A Will of Namazu
by Inoke Chaz
Summary: Even the most gentle, mourning souls can fade to blackness. Hyuuga Hinata is no exception. [AU with a darkish Hyuuga Hinata and mental breakdowns.]
1. Chapter 1

**A Will of Namazu**

**Project :** _A Will of Namazu_ is a **SasuHina** story I have been thinking about a week or something. Why '_Namazu'_ in my title, well...the symbol of the cat-fish in the Japanese legends is very interesting and definitely attractive to me. Hehe, you'll understand. Maybe. In case you're wondering, this is **rated M**. I think it will be **Hurt/Comfort** and **Romance** for the themes of this fan-fiction.

**My idea of this SasuHina :** It came after the Fourth Shinobi War was won and the deaths of so many shinobi from all Hidden Villages. Especially **Hyuuga Neji** who sacrificed himself to save his cousin. It really shook me up to write something about her ; mourning her beloved cousin first, then moving on to become stronger. Such death of someone really close – in her case family – could leave her as an emotional wreck. _A Will of Namazu_ will essentially tell the tale of the **Hyuuga heiress** and the future encounter with **Uchiha Sasuke** in her adventures. It won't be pretty and all, since there will be an aftermath after the Fourth Shinobi War.

**Summary :** Even the most gentle, mourning souls can fade to blackness. Hyuuga Hinata is no exception.

**Disclaimer :** I certainly do not own Naruto. The plot only is actually mine.

So, on with the story !

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter One : Leaving Everything Behind<strong>

She was swift and silent when she leapt from branch to branch. Ever graceful, the young kunoichi wasn't abrupt in her gestures and almost moved like a cat ; focused on her destination, her white and very unique eyes didn't miss anything as she easily avoided small and big obstacles. It has been hours since she got back on the road and the more she forgot about everything back in Konoha, the more she felt relaxed.

_At peace_.

Hyuuga Hinata craved peace more than anything now. It was becoming too much in the Hidden Village of the Leaf and she just couldn't take it anymore. She _just_ couldn't. The Fourth Great Shinobi War had scarred everyone in more ways possible, more mentally than physically for many of them – the losses were great and painful. Talented ninjas and kunoichi died in the terrible battle opposing Uchiha Madara and Obito, the tenth-tailed beast had done horrible damages that not everyone could bear. She had shed tears and was still mourning Neji's loss, even though Hyuuga usually conceal their emotions behind this mask of neutrality she couldn't stand. But she was no idiot : Hanabi may be their father's little clone, but Hinata was able to hear the cries she tried to muffle in her pillow late at night. Hyuuga Hanabi was still human after all and a young child who wasn't completely heartless. Hearing her beloved little sister cry was something Hinata couldn't bear and as much as she tried to comfort her, she just couldn't hide her own tears.

This was one of the reasons she left the Hidden Village of the Leaf. There were too many memories, all bad and good. After all the pressure of the war and the mourning, those smiles emerging on the faces of children and mothers who hadn't lost a family member were starting to sting. To hurt. Those smiles, those laughs...Hyuuga Hinata would have gone insane if she hadn't seriously thought about leaving this place behind. Sometimes, inner strenght couldn't erase an overwhelming sadness and that she understood ; it left an extremely bitter taste in her mouth and she would feel her heart ache at the mere thought of Neji's lifeless eyes. How could she move on ? How could_ they_ – the Hyuuga – move on so quickly without actually showing their emotions ?

_'Yes. How could they ?'_

Her thoughts shifted towards a boy with blond hair and bright blue eyes shining like the clear sky. _Naruto_. Hinata almost scowled, which didn't really match with her soft, beautiful features. She had always seen this young man as her role model to get above herself, to get stronger. The Uzumaki was this figure of courage and determination in which she found the will to prove her skills, to surpass herself and see beyond her eyes could observe. Even as an outcast shunned by almost everyone in the village, he still managed to become the hero they had needed. Worshipped and loved. _Loved_. Hinata wanted to scoff at that. How long had she loved him and admired him until she realized he couldn't return her feelings ? How long had she...

She stopped and paused, eyes downcast. Had she not get over the fact that the blond Jinchuuriki already another woman ? It seemed that forgetting him was proving to be harder than she actually thought, even if _they_ were all suddenly assigned to bring her back to Konohagakure after she vanished. Intense feelings such as real love would take time to fade, Hinata knew it. But she had to try. She had to. She _wanted_ to. That was part of the reasons that ushered her to leave the village and she will stick to it no matter what – even if it meant being added into their Bingo book.

Sighing, she actived her Byakugan and scanned the zone. The forest she had been journeying for hours was alive and full of noises of all kind – birds, chipmunks and others. She was really proud to have extended the sight of her kekkei genkai, it proved to be helpful to locate potential threats like thugs and shinobis. Satisfied, Hinata deactivated her Byakugan and leapt towards the lake to make lunch.

Some time later, a delicious smell of cooked fish floated in the air that could make the most cold-hearted man a hungry animal. Hinata, sitting on the ground, was sharpening her kunai while keeping an eye on her meal albeit she looked a bit thoughtful. There were things and memories she couldn't block out that easily, this kind of things attached to her like a part of her permanently and will never go away.

''Never,'' Hinata murmured gently as she took a fish.

She blew on it.

* * *

><p><em>When was the last time she had ever cared about the death of someone so close to her ? It hurt deeply like salt on a wound and this wound...would it heal properly in time ? Hyuuga Hinata was in a state of pure heartache, something that would cause her fearful reactions : it was early in the morning when the first anxiety attack happened about three weeks ago, she found herself unable to breathe.<em>

_Her heart beat so hard, it was so hard to breathe... fingers digging in her busty chest, the heiress fought back the urge to call for someone. Even without using the Byakugan she knew that everyone was still asleep, meaning she had to go through this phase alone. Just as alone as she was now without Neji around. He would have known what to do, he would have stayed with her until she calmed down, his white eyes shining with the constant worry he held towards ever since he stopped blaming and hating the Main House. He would have known..._

_Hinata reminded herself to breathe in, breathe out. Slowly. She closed her eyes in order to concentrate on the most cheerful and beautiful moments she had with her old teammates ; Kiba and Shino training with her and reminding her to be patient with her improving skills, Kiba playing the idiot to make her laugh while Shino just shook his head at him, Akamaru jumping onto her to lick her face happily and she giggling uncontrollably until her stomach hurt._

_''Smile, Hinata. You're more gorgeous when you smile.''_

_Kiba's words had previously made her blush and ever modest, she had called him silly and he had laughed. His fanged smile had always been a little creepy at first but after some time passed with him and Akamaru, Hinata had learned not to be afraid of him anymore. It even made her feel safe along with Shino. When her breathing started to shift and her heartbeat slowed down a little a small smile appeared. It was working – Kiba's words and smile worked._

_''Kiba-kun...''_

_She imagined his face and his smile. His friendly smile she liked so much..._

_''Thank you. You've helped me.''_

_But it could have been Neji. She had hoped it could have been him._

* * *

><p>A fairly loud <em>'Crac'<em> alerted her and she quickly drew a kunai out of her jacket, Byakugan swirling and ready to strike anyone who has come to disturb her peace. There was no sign of someone nearby or further, no chakra signature, nothing. She was all alone so what could have made...

She looked down at her meal. The chopstick that she has been sucking on to collect the fish flavor was broken in half while the other was still hanging between her gritted teeth. Oh, so she was letting her bitterness take over her emotions and reason without realizing it. This wasn't good. Sighing, Hinata clenched and unclenched her fist. _Calm down_, she admonished herself lightly. Getting ticked off when _that_ sort of memory came to her wouldn't help her in any case and if she didn't learn to control herself, things could go badly for her whenever she steps into a town or crowded by people. If this memory managed to elicit such reaction from her then what could an insult bring out from her the next time she enters a town ?

_These reactions are beginning to prove hard to hold back._ Getting back on the road, Hinata willed herself to stop thinking about Konohagakure and its memories to concentrate on the goals she decided to accomplish. What had been the other motives that steeled her resolution to leave her village were also the fact that she decided to create her own path, to follow it until its very end and gain new forms of jutsus – the Hyuuga training has been getting on her nerves after the second anxiety attack, it forced her to call out the training with Hanabi. What was more surprising and terrifying was when Hinata _yelled_ at her sister in frustration, Byakugan still active. She had never raised her voice, never. Yet the shocked and hurt look she received from Hanabi had confirmed her fears.

Hinata hated seeing her little sister afraid for her.

The beautiful kunoichi had avoided the desert and Sunagakure like the plague. Even if she was now good friends with the Kazekage, she couldn't afford getting spotted in a village ruled by someone so close to Naruto – Gaara would surely look to warn the new Hokage about her and soon enough she would be cornered by Konoha ninjas, dragged by force back to _their_ village. No, she couldn't afford to get caught now, not after the huge efforts she put on to get away from her friends and family. It pained her deeply to leave and make her friends and family worry about her state but this time, Hyuuga Hinata thought about herself for the first time and didn't care about the other's opinion about her decision.

_Everyone should be selfish sometimes, Hinata-sama. Everyone. Even you._

Neji had talked with experience when he told her this. Selfishness comes when you feel hopelessly alone and helpless to the point you just want to disappear from the surface of the world and never come back, it was a bitter feeling that no one would really like to experience. For the first time, Hinata wanted to be selfish and think about herself. There _certainly_ was harm made as she must have broken and hurt Shino and Kiba by leaving but who would she be fooling ? She couldn't fool anyone and _especially not_ herself. Neji was dead and he wasn't the only one who had given his life in this bloody war.

_'Did you finally acknowledge me in your final moments, Father ?'_

No one would really answer her. Not anymore.

By sunset, Hinata chose to keep running for a little while. Where was the point in resting when her mind wouldn't listen to her ? She was still thinking about the horrors of the Fourth Shinobi War and the lives it had taken in the worst ways possible – and her late father. Somehow, Hinata couldn't stop thinking about those white, lifeless eyes that belonged to both Neji and her father. It made her cry her heart out late at nights the first and the more she thought about it, the more an unknown anger growing inside took over and made her snap. Sometimes she would get out of the Hyuuga estate and fly over the rooftops to rest somewhere, finding herself unable to get any sleep. Tired and restless, Hinata would hide her frustration under those smile she set on her beautiful face to cover all this...but she knew better. Shino and Kiba knew her more than anybody else ; there were signs about Hinata that couldn't fool them and sadly, she wouldn't tell them what was wrong. She couldn't bring herself to tell them, she _just_ couldn't. Hinata being Hinata, she wouldn't try bothering her teammates about her 'problems'. So she decided for herself and packed anything she could need until then. Then she left. And she knew she has hurt anyone who cared about her.

This time...this time, she didn't care.

* * *

><p>''What do you mean by <em>'Hinata has left'<em> ?!'' Uzumaki Naruto exclaimed loudly, eyes wide in his sockets as he stared unbelievingly at the Godaime Hokage. ''Tsunade... a-are you sure you're not mistaken ?''

The atmosphere in the office was tense and electric as Tsunade was the object of many stares, mainly from Hinata's teammates. She had summoned Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba only half an hour ago to tell them about their friend's departure and the reactions had been _immediate_ : she had tolerated Kiba's cries of anguish and desolation, she had seen his face falling apart as if the world was crumbling again despite the rage of the last Shinobi War. Shino had been a little more composed but his body talked for him ; the clenching of his jaws, the harsh frown on his face and the way he had jerked forward as if he wanted to grab the Hokage and shake her couldn't have lied. Her brown eyes downcast and thoughtful as she ignored the panicked rambling of Naruto, Tsunade recalled the Hyuuga's words with a clenched heart.

_''Tsunade-sama, I have a request I would like you to hear and grant.''_

_No stuttering. And this cold, assured voice when she had always heard it as soft-spoken and so kind...it was strange and disturbing. More disturbing : Hyuuga Hinata was standing before her high and proud, as still as a statue. Her eyes, which always displayed her emotions, were now hardened and had lost their kindness. It took Tsunade more than five minutes to assess what the younger kunoichi has just said as she stared at her with a penetrating gaze._

_Strange. For all the times the Godaime Hokage had summoned Hinata, Kiba and Shino, she had described the Hyuuga heiress as a very kind and sweet woman with the purest personality. She distinguished herself from her clan – and her cousin as well – and proved to be someone who couldn't judge anyone else, a quality that very few shinobi now had. It could make her weak to many but to Tsunade, it was a strenght that no one should understimate._

_But now, this coldness emanating from her was..._

''Granny Tsunade, are you listening to me ? We've got to—''

''Naruto. Shut up.'' the older blonde woman said sternly.

This didn't stop the Jinchuuriki as he _violently_ slammed his fists upon the desk, blue eyes blazing with anger. ''_No_ ! You listen to me, let me lead—''

There was an echoed gasp from most of all people summoned here as Tsunade all but completely _smashed_ Naruto on her desk with her foot – how she had risen from her chair with so much fluidity and speed was beyond them but again, it was expected from such a powerful Sannin. Lady Tsunade, now standing before a bewildered crowd, looked down at an enraged Naruto with a harsh scowl on her pretty face and one of the coldest looks they have ever seen. Her foot still pinning him down with all her strenght by his head, she looked _beyond_ pissed. Haruno Sakura, who had seen her master's wrath more than one time for her sake, was torn between lunging forward to help her comrade and letting Tsunade give a piece of her mind until she calms down – which would certainly take a while and empty a bottle of sake. She couldn't help but tremble slightly as she observed the scene, frozen in place. The atmosphere was already tense and heavy at the beginning but it suddenly became almost unbearable when Lady Tsunade snapped rather violently. Even Hatake Kakashi was smart enough to back away very slowly and Nara Shikamaru didn't feel lazy anymore as they shuddered under the dark aura their leader was emitting.

Her voice was cold and harsh. ''Didn't you hear me, boy ? I said : shut up. Now, all of you listen very carefully.'' Her head rose slowly and her brown eyes stared coldly at everyone else who stood still and waiting for more.

Her penetrating and hardened gaze found Kiba and Shino first as the two of them must be on the edge of storming out of the room and leaving Konoha to look for their missing teammate.

''No one is going _anywhere_,'' Tsunade hissed harshly. ''No one is thinking about going _anywhere_. Especially you _three_.'' She emphasized her words by applying strenght in her leg upon her hold on Naruto, who let out a grunt of pain under the Hokage's foot pinning him to the shattering ground, and glaring murderously at Kiba and Shino. ''Hyuuga Hinata hasn't betrayed the village and run off in search of power like Uchiha Sasuke did in the past if you want to know. She left on her free will.''

Those informations should relieve them but Tsunade knew better ; it was the calm before the storm. And she didn't have to wait that long before the loudmouth under her began to exclaim.

''You think we will stand here like good dogs and wait until she decides to come back ?'' His fingers clawed at the ground. ''You're wrong, Granny Tsunade !''

''Naruto, do you think I'm actually giving you a choice ?'' she growled menacingly, eyes glowering with barely controlled anger. ''The last thing I want to hear from your uncontrolled mouth of yours is that you want to go after Hyuuga Hinata and bring her back without knowing why she has left, as you did for the traitor Uchiha Sasuke.'' The Jinchuuriki flinched at her words but she ignored it. ''You won't leave this village to chase after her, I hereby forbid it.''

''But... but _why_ ?'' Yamanaka Ino stammered, at a loss. ''It's not like Hinata-chan to suddenly do something like that, something must have happened !''

Yes. Something _has_ happened.

_''You...want to leave the village ?'' Tsunade was astonished._

_Hyuuga Hinata merely nodded, as cold as Hyuuga Neji had always been back when he was still alive. She didn't speak the reasons that were urging her to storm out of this office, out of this village. Out of the Hidden Leaf. Silent as a shadow, the Hyuuga heiress just stood there waiting for the Hokage to come out of her state of shock. Her lavender eyes didn't display any emotion at all – which was starting to seriously creep Tsunade out – and her plump lips were set in a grim line. 'Emotionless' and 'deadly silent' were adjectives that didn't match with the young kunoichi and the Sannin couldn't help but wonder why the Hyuuga acted so out of character._

_It hurt. Seeing so much kindness and brightness thoroughly erased from her face made Tsunade's heart skip a beat. It hurt. It was a coldness she couldn't bear seeing on this particular kunoichi – on Hinata nonetheless. She looked like she had...shut down. She was emitting a kind of coldness that didn't suit her and ate her usual warmth, leaving nothing but this harsh and terrifying stoic demeanor. _

_Was it the Fourth Shinobi War ? Did it finally get to her ?_

_''Can I ask you why, Hinata ?'' Tsunade rested her elbows on the desk and propped her chin on her hands, watching the kunoichi very carefully._

_She didn't even twitch. ''What do you think, Lady Tsunade ?''_

_Her voice was so cold, so...Hyuuga. The Sannin took a huge breath and resisted the urge of shooting out of her chair to grab Hinata and shake her out of her state._

_''Alright, I think...this is completely unexpected from you.'' A long silence settled between them before the older kunoichi continued grimly, her brown eyes suddenly sad. ''There are no words possible and strong enough to describe the horrors of this Fourth Shinobi War and I, myself, wonder how we could have fallen into such state of madness. Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Sasuke...we have lost so many and so much. We have destroyed each other by going at war and the results are terrifying. Hinata,'' Tsunade frowned lightly, staring at the Hyuuga. ''We may have won the war, but the world remains dangerous and unknown since this madmen brought this upon us. If you decide to leave, you will be exposed to chaos. If you decide to leave, Naruto will do everything to bring you back here in Konoha.''_

_To her utter surprise, Hinata remained stoic. Whenever Uzumaki Naruto was brought, she would do this cute blushing thing and she would stutter like any girl having a serious crush on someone. This time, she was neutral._

_''Yes. I know that more than anything, Lady Tsunade.'' There was some sarcasm laced in her voice. ''Naruto always keeps his promises like the good shinobi he is, am I right ? That's his nindo. Admirable, stupidly admirable...'' No reaction. ''But he won't chase after me like he did with Uchiha Sasuke.''_

_''Oh ? How can you be so sure of that ?'' Tsunade raised a defiant brow at Hinata._

_''Because,'' Veins started to appear on Hinata's temples as she fixed the Hokage with a hard stare. ''you're a woman of honor. You will stay true to your word.''_

Naruto wouldn't have understood. Or maybe he would have. The death of Jiraya had also been painful to him and everyone who was close to the late perverted Sannin, but Hyuuga Hinata had much more to endure ; experiencing her cousin's sacrifice to save her life when she was ready to give up hers to protect Naruto from the deadly spikes that would have pierced her like butter must have impregnated her mind. Such a horrible sight must have left damages, damages surely beyond repair.

No. He couldn't have understood. Jiraya wasn't Neji. Jiraya was just another Sannin to Hinata and that was it.

_'You will stay true to your word.'_

''Uchiha Sasuke had a purpose when he left and betrayed you,'' Tsunade said. ''But Hyuuga Hinata isn't Uchiha Sasuke and the reasons of her departure from Konoha aren't about revenge or anything like that. She didn't betray you, she left because she _needed_ to. Unfortunately, I won't reveal those reasons she told me before her departure and no one – and I say _no one_ – is going to go against my orders. This will be your one and only warning.'' Her gaze turned dark. ''The first one to disobey my orders will be imprisoned until I decide to let him go.''

''Lady Tsunade, you can't be serious !'' Sakura chortled, astounded.

Kakashi went over the Hokage, brow furrowed in surprise. ''Lady Tsunade,'' he began, wary. ''Don't you think this is a little too harsh ? Surely no one would go against your orders but—''

Kiba had enough of this. He was about to stalk forward when Shino put a hand on his shoulder, holding from leaping at the Hokage. He didn't fight his friend as he gave the older woman a piece of his mind. ''Are you _kidding_, Kakashi-sensei ?'' he snarled angrily. ''This isn't about this piece of shit of Uchiha, this is Hinata we're talking about !'' He was indifferent to Sakura's and Ino's glare as he stared at Tsunade with unmasked worry and anger. ''She must be in a state that requires mine and Shino's help, we must go at once and bring her back to Konoha !''

_I will stay true to my word._

''And what will you do once you find her, Inuzuka ?'' Tsunade demanded, her voice rising as her temper flared. What will you do if you force her to come back with you against her wishes ? Will you against her wishes because she finally decided to be selfish for the first time and for her own good ? If she has left you behind it was for her sanity ! If she has left everything behind it was for recovery !''

That seemed to stun Kiba a little. And almost everyone else. ''R-recovery...?''

_I will stay true to my word. I'm a woman of honor._

* * *

><p>Recovery. It was something that Uchiha Itachi had wished for his little brother before he could leave this earth in peace but Sasuke had yet to recover. There was something holding him back from opening himself to the idiot and the pink-haired kunoichi and he couldn't know what – it wasn't that he had become a shinobi of Konohagakure again even if it seriously pained him to the point of killing mercilessly, he still hated the village with passion, but the fact that he didn't know what to do.<p>

_I've killed Itachi. I've killed Madara and Obito._

But was he satisfied ? He didn't feel peace at all. He felt empty, cold and lonely. Not that he missed that idiotic fan-girl of Karin and her bickering with Suigetsu, but there was that annoying sense of unsatisfaction growing inside of his chest each time he thought about Itachi's last words.

Live ? How could he live when everything he held dear had either been removed from or absolutely destroyed ? This was pure irony. He had snorted at that. Karin would be sliced in half if she ever talked to him about proposing to rebuild his clan with her, so it was completely out of question. It had been his purpose when he was still a shinobi of Konoha but it somewhat changed during the years. Besides rebuilding the Uchiha name, there was the vow of destroying the village and the elders responsible for the Uchiha massacre – their ugly manipulations finally discovered, Sasuke had never once tasted such bloodlust. For him, Konoha had to pay for what they had done. But _Uzumaki Naruto_ would always spoil his plans ; like how he had practically forced him back in the dreaded Konoha with that revolting goofy smile Sasuke had grown to hate.

_'Everything will not go back to normal, idiot. Never. Don't be mistaken, my hatred for this village won't ever fade until I die.'_

''True enough, dobe,'' Sasuke muttered darkly.

True enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Will of Namazu**

**Author's note 1 :** Hello, I'm astonished. I didn't know that the Naruto fandom was _that_ popular ! Believe me when I'm telling you that I was surprised to see these first reviews and those persons who added _A Will of Namazu_ to their favorites and followers lists. Honestly, thank you ! I'll try my best to update the following chapters.

**Author's note 2 :** If you have any questions about the story, feel free to ask me in your reviews. I'll answer – but _no spoilers_ !

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><p><span><strong>Chapter Two : Crushed Leaves<strong>

It was silent within the Hyuuga estate. Silent and colder than usual without Hinata's presence to warm everything up. Hyuuga Hanabi shivered slightly as she lay in her bed, feeling anything but fine. True to her unusually harsh words, her older sister had done what she must have been up to lately by disappearing – and to be honest, Hanabi had nearly fallen into catatonia once the news have been broken to anyone who was worried about Hinata.

_'She is gone, Hanabi-san. Hinata has...left.'_

'Left' didn't mean she was 'dead'. There was still this lingering hope stirring inside her guts that was assuring her that Hinata was still alive somewhere in the Shinobi world – and hurting. Even if Hanabi wasn't the most attentive sister most of the time, she had started watching Hinata closely ; the changes were slow but noticeable around her older sister ever since they got back from the war they had previously won. It had started with short answers and curt nods instead of the kind responses everyone was so used to – to which Hanabi would sometimes let a tiny smile appear on her face before retreating back to her stoic face – and as days went by, the short answers became harsh words exclaimed with her soft voice she had grown accustomed to. Such harshness and sarcasm in her tone had been so new and violent that Hanabi had almost jerked away from Hinata. Almost. The heiress hadn't seemed to register her own outburst and had continued her way outside, ignoring the shock on her younger sister.

Hanabi felt herself tremble under her sheets and she clenched her eyes shut. She had also trembled when Hinata had yelled at her.

_Yelling had never been part of you, Aneki. What happened ?_

As the morning rays of sun lit the room, the thought of getting up to attend a meeting organized by the Hyuuga Elders didn't seem appealing to her ; there was no doubt they will certainly talk about Hinata's defection from the clan and the village and will try to strip her from her title as heiress and pass it down to Hanabi. A few years back it had been one of her top priorities as her skills were more valuable than Hinata's but now...she wasn't so interested anymore in ruling the Hyuuga clan. Being clan head was such a heavy and honorable responsability their father fulfilled with assurance and wisdom, albeit having been a little harsh and severe during their training together, but he has always been her model alongside with her older sister. Ruling the Hyuuga clan, being admired for her superior skills, being her father's favorite, all this has become so dull. So futile. Nothing will come back to normal after this – _she_ wasn't going back to normal since Neji's and their father's death.

No. Hanabi wasn't going back to normal after _this_. The horrors of the war took her cousin and father away weeks ago and it was now Hinata's turn to disappear, leaving the stoic-father-like daughter all alone. This form of abandonment left a sour taste in her mouth and a gaping hole in her chest because for the first time, Hyuuga Hanabi wanted to display all the emotions that were building up inside. The idea of screaming her anguish had never been so appealing, so tempting, just to see how everyone would react to her violent outburst –_ everyone_, including that idiotic partner of hers, Konohamaru. She wanted to see the stern and emotionless face of the Hyuuga show feelings, _all_ kinds of feelings, just to see if they had really moved on with Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Neji. She wanted to see if…

She wanted to see if they were human. Just like Hinata.

_'We Hyuuga, always conceal our emotions behind a stern mask. However, it is only up to you to make it unbreakable.'_

Back then, Hanabi had sworn to never display any emotions. She had thought it was a sign of weakness that her sister carried around and, like the favorite she was, had laughed about it. Of course, it proved her _wrong_ again. Once _again_. Showing weakness was somewhat a strenght Hanabi and her father wouldn't have understood. And what powerful strenght it was ; Hinata's courage to confront Pein in order to protect that despicable Uzumaki Naruto had been foolish, yet inspiring. Had it been Hanabi instead of her, would she have fought against the monster and risked her own life for someone she didn't acknowledge as a friend or acquaintance like _Hinata_ ? Would she have stood her ground and fought like _Hinata_ ?

There was still so much Hanabi had to learn from her sister. _So much_.

A knock on her door pulled her out of her dark thoughts and she merely turned on her back. ''What is it ?'' she asked sternly, eyes fixed on her ceiling.

''Hanabi-sama, there is someone here to see you,'' the voice of a servant said quietly.

She frowned lightly._ Someone_ ? At this hour ?

''And who is that ?''

''Uzumaki Naruto, Hanabi-sama.''

_What…?_

The young Hyuuga sat up quickly, her white eyes widened and showing surprise.

What was he doing here ?

* * *

><p>The first time Naruto had met Hyuuga Hanabi was during the Sandaime Hokage's funeral. And his impression about her ?<p>

Cold. Stoic. So different from her sister.

It was brief but he remembered her face and her words. He shuddered as he stared at the beautifully kept garden of the Hyuuga estate to occupy himself until the spoiled little brat deigned to face him. He had never been here and he had never felt the urge to come – Hinata may be one of his dearest friends of the Academy and he cared about her, but there was something that seemed off between them ever since she had confessed her love to him. Naruto had been painfully clueless about the nature of her true feelings about him and he had yet to grasp the courage to face her, fearing an emotional breakdown from the gentle kunoichi. Since the last events of the Fourth Shinobi War, he realized that he had neglected Hinata to concentrate on Sasuke's presence and Sakura.

Had it been purposefully or not deliberate he couldn't say, but he knew that he just couldn't look at her in the eyes for some reason. She had been wilful at sacrificing herself to save him – twice, in fact. _Twice_. She reasoned him when he was on the verge of giving up just seconds after Neji breathed his last words, haunted by Uchiha Obito's mocking words, and he couldn't have been more grateful. But after that, he didn't see Hinata anymore. It wasn't that she avoided him – he was the one avoiding her. Some could say it was guilt boring holes into him because of her cousin's death, others would wonder if it was because he wouldn't be able to tell he was sorry about Neji.

Were they wrong ?

Naruto sighed, eyes closed in anguish. Once more, he had been an awful friend to Hinata. Nobody as kind and wonderful as Hinata should be that ignored and waved off. Awful, awful, _awful_...

''Uzumaki Naruto.'' The voice pulled him out of his trance and he looked down.

The youngest Hyuuga stood before him with her large white eyes looking at him with curiosity and this coldness he was used to be with – he almost choked on his late friend's name and nibbled on his lip. Suddenly the atmosphere seemed heavier, unbearable ; it wasn't the fact that Naruto was intimidated by Hanabi, her mere presence was enough to creep him out, but rather because he didn't know what he could tell her. It made him wonder why he had bothered to come with an empty mind and no calculated words to somewhat comfort Hinata's younger sister – as if she _really_ needed comfort from _him_ all of people.

The words struggled to come out, he could tell. Even Hanabi could tell by his frustrated expression, so she just stared back and patiently waited. She still didn't understand his presence here but she hoped he would tell something worth her time – if it had anything to do with her sister, she would listen until he was done. She watched impassively as he gulped down a lump in his throat rather loudly and scratched the back of his head, eyes not meeting hers.

This lasted for at least two minutes before he opened his mouth.

''What can I say, Hanabi-san ?''

Her white eyes grew large as she stared at him incredulously.

''Excuse me ?'' She was dumbfounded.

He sighed deeply. ''_What_ can I _say_ ?'' he repeated. ''It's been days since Hinata-chan has left and...I don't know anymore. It seems something punched me in the stomach when Granny Tsunade broke the news. _Hard_. She was so cold and deadly serious that it...bothered me. Because I didn't expect that – _nobody_ expected that and now I realized how an horrible friend I have been to her.'' Hanabi just stared, speechless. Naruto bit his lip in silent pain. ''What were her thoughts ? Was she suffering from the loss of Neji in silence, alone and without someone t-to comfort her ? Were you too crying in your sleep, Hanabi ? I-I…''

His breathing became uneven, shallow. But the young Hyuuga just stared as he trembled, his anguish and guilt now visible.

''She never said anything. She has been agonizing silently and _because_ it's Hinata-chan, she...it's painful to finally understand !'' he exclaimed loudly.'' Sh-she is so quiet all the time a-and since the war is over...I thought I could gather the courage to talk to her and—''

''But you didn't,'' Hanabi countered.

Naruto looked down at her, his face glum. She frowned.

''You didn't seek my sister as a _friend_. You weren't there to comfort her as a _friend_.'' At this point, Hanabi knew this bubble building up into her chest was related to anger and she glared at the Jinchuuriki through narrowed eyes. ''I may not have many friends as Hinata does – do I even know the concept of friendship ? I sometimes wonder – but there is something I understand here while listening to your stupid rambling.'' Hanabi stalked towards him, didn't mind when he backed away from her as if intimidated and came to a halt mere inches before him.

Who was this man in front of her ? From the little she knew about Uzumaki Naruto, he was this loudmouth, a few years back, who made himself hated by all villagers for reasons he couldn't understand as a kid. He was this vessel of the infamous Nine-tailed beast known as the Kyuubi who, for reasons she still couldn't really understand or admit, made himself renowned because of his actions towards the Kazekage and the help he provided to bring him back. He was this shinobi who happened to swear he would protect everyone, out of the blue, even if he had to be killed during the battle. He was this man, stupid and boisterous as he was, who was trained by one of the Sannin to get stronger over the years and confront the Akatsuki. He was this man who, in spite of his own self-delusion, swore and made a promise to his teammate that he would bring Uchiha Sasuke back in Konoha, even if he was a traitor to them. He was also this man who had defeated Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara. Hanabi had sometimes very secretly admired those actions but would have never admitted it. But seriously..._seriously_…

Hinata _couldn't have loved_ someone like him. There were so many differences between her hardworking older sister and this revolting blonde man and, to be incredibly honest, Hanabi was starting to hold a grudge against Uzumaki Naruto. As she stared at his wide blue eyes of his, she began to count the times Hinata had talked about him, defended him against her insults with such confidence in her eyes and her tone and couldn't help but think that he wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth the time to think about – not _anymore_. All this time after the war was over Hanabi had watched closely her older sister interact with others, silent and sometimes wishing she could help her move on like the Hyuuga had, but had always recoiled because Hinata would plaster _that_ soft smile on her face, telling her she was fine. Her _eyes_ were lying, her _smile_ was lying, her _words_ were lying – _everything_ from her screamed lies ever since Neji and her father were dead ! And he – _that Uzumaki Naruto_...he…

Veins appeared on her temples as Hanabi snarled angrily at the blonde. ''YOU. WEREN'T. THERE. TO. COMFORT HER !''

A defeaning silence followed after the first outburst. Which didn't last more than four seconds when the second followed.

''And Kami knows Hinata would have appreciated – _loved_ – if you had come here to talk to her, to make her smile – to _comfort_ her !'' she shouted, fisting her hands over his stupidly orange shirt. ''But you didn't show up, _never_ ! For weeks I have watched her fading without having the chance to fix her and it had hurt to see that nothing I would have done would have worked...and because of what ? Because their deaths were too much for her, for me ! Father, Neji...they were everything to us ! They were family ! You _don't _deserve her tears, you _don't_ deserve her friendship, you…'' she took several breaths before continuing, her powerful Byakugan still active in anger. ''_You don't deserve my sister's love, Uzumaki _!''

_Damn. It feels good._

''You're right : you _are_ an awful friend ! If you were a good friend you would have been here all the time trying to help her instead of trying to rebuild a friendship with a traitor who doesn't even want you around him ! If you were a good friend you would have stayed by her side each day trying to make her smile as you always did in the past ! If you were _such_ a good friend you would have made it up to her by honouring Neji's memory and reminding her how such a good friend our cousin was to you and maybe – maybe...she would still be here, smiling and being the Hinata I love so much ! You favoured spending time with the traitor Uchiha Sasuke than spending time with Hinata – was she that repellent to you ? Was she really your friend ? Did you consider her as such ? _Where_ were you all this time, Uzumaki ? _Where_ were you, hero of Konoha ? Huh ? _Answer me_ !''

But he didn't. He couldn't anyway. Uzumaki Naruto didn't have any words to say out loud and _Kami_, Hyuuga Hanabi was right.

What kind of friend was he for Hinata ?

Staring dumbly at the angry white eyes the younger kunoichi, Naruto couldn't find himself able to think straight. _Hinata was gone_. She was gone and, when he thought about it, ignoring her by staying around Sasuke and Sakura had helped urging the young Hyuuga heiress to leave. His heartbeat fastened as he widened his cerulean eyes in an extremely painful realization. It was mostly his fault if his kind friend had left Konohagakure without anyone noticing she was missing, had he been more attentive to her and not concentrated on bringing Sasuke back he would have noticed that something was amiss. Would he have ? This ignorance, this painful ignorance of his had been eating her, gnawing at her kindness, devouring her sanity and he, as the idiot he was for not realizing her feelings for him, had been avoiding her for no reason. He had never mustered the necessary courage to look for her and talk about them, about Neji and her father, about anything at all. While she had always found her courage to be his friend, to see the good in him, to defend him and to confess to him, he had waved her off once the war was won and hadn't bothered to seek her in order to comfort her.

_'Where were you all this time, Uzumaki ?'_

Hanabi's words echoed in his blank mind like a mantra. Hinata had always understood him. What she saw in him he couldn't know, but he knew that she wasn't like the others ; she stood out for him, she defended him, she worshipped him for his determination to get stronger and his courage to stand his ground, she looked up to him to also get stronger – _she just understood him more than the others_. More than Haruno Sakura who must be still pinning for Sasuke even though she confessed to him, more than Hatake Kakashi who only spoke when he feels that his precious pupils are falling apart. More than anyone else, probably.

Naruto didn't feel anything. He was numb, limp. He didn't even feel the hot tears streaming down his face as he stared into oblivion in painful guilt. Hanabi didn't care as she whipped around, Byakugan still active and not holding him anymore. He sank to his knees, unable to stand.

''You may leave,'' she whispered, her throat sore and voice hoarse from screaming. ''I'm _tired_.''

So was he. Tired and _so_ sorry.

* * *

><p>Outside and resting on the rooftop of his apartment, Uchiha Sasuke still stared. He was frowning.<p>

The Hyuuga brat had more backbone than he thought. _Yes_, he had seen and heard everything.

''Well dobe ?'' he muttered. ''What are you going to do ? Bring her back forcefully and selfishly like you did with me, without understanding ?''

He snorted, closing his eyes. And snarling.

''Only _you_ can do that.''

* * *

><p>Days passed. And the more time passed, the further Hyuuga Hinata was getting from Konoha – from them. They knew it but couldn't do anything because the Hokage had forbidden it. For a friend, shinobis of Konoha would do anything – look out for him, stand by him, kill for him. Even if it cost anything. Friendship was something so strong that it could go to the impossible and the unforgiveable – it could match love in some domains, but nothing so drastic. Naruto had always looked up to Sasuke even though they were rivals back then, as his dream of becoming Hokage was to protect both his village and everyone he held dear. Such typical dream he had, some would say with amused chuckles.<p>

Except that their hero wasn't this typical shinobi. He was something even more incredible.

And _this_ naive to think that Uchiha Sasuke would be delighted to be back. He loathed everything about this village everytime he recalled Madara's words about the truth and played them in his mind, but the more he thought about hunting down the Elders responsible for the Uchiha massacre all those years back, the more his fingers itched to reach his katana and—

And what ? Murder anyone because he couldn't stand Konoha ?

Why _yes_. Konoha was the reason his whole clan had been murdered and those soon-to-be dead Elders had planned everything, tasked his older brother to murder his parents and their clan. Konoha was the reason Sasuke had nourished the goal of murdering his brother so he could – blindly – avenge his clan for reasons he couldn't have even imagined. Konoha _again_ was the village which had betrayed his family and hid the truth like a common coward. For what he could care less, this village could have burned down to ashes he wouldn't have looked back with regret. So Naruto and Sakura could stuff their selfishness and so-called 'love' for him and go fuck themselves, they never understood. They had never understood his hunger, like he felt the need to explain himself. It wasn't recognition for what he was Sasuke had been looking for, it wasn't stability either he had been craving about, it was…

He didn't even know.

One evening, Sasuke found himself leaping rooftop after rooftop towards the Hokage Tower, where he would see this busted blonde Sannin and see what the hell she wanted with him. Using his extreme speed to reach the building without being spotted by eventual – and annoying fan-girls – he began to wonder about a potential assignement he could be given. If it was an escort to a far away country with some annoying, rich client, Sasuke would just walk back to his apartment and hole up in there, not caring if the Hokage would throw a fit at his arrogance. It woud be simple as that.

However the second he opened the door of Tsunade's office, he slammed it back shut with a death glare and was already walking back to his apartment.

_Of all thrash in Konoha, did that 'woman' have to choose them ?_

The door opened again and Sakura peeked her head out. ''Sasuke-kun, wait up ! We have a mission together !''

''And _I_ couldn't care less,'' the Uchiha answered back, not even bothering to look at her.

He heard her running to catch up and her hands latched onto his arm. _Tightly_.

''P-please Sasuke-kun,'' Sakura all but pleaded, tugging him with her. ''We don't want to make Lady Tsunade mad because you refused to participate.''

''Again, I couldn't care less,'' he repeated, about to shove her aside _rather roughly_. ''Tell your Hokage I'm not interested in running around for this village. I'm going back to sleep.''

''But…''

''Yo, Sasuke !''

_You've got to be kidding. _He turned to glare at Kakashi's form leaning on the wall behind them, a hand holding an Icha Icha Paradise volume. _Still reading that damn garbage ? _He inwardly snarled._ If I set that thing on fire, maybe his brain would be functioning with more acuity._

Kakashi's only eye smiled up at him. ''The Hokage has summoned us four for another mission, so we better get in there before she starts throwing things through the wall.''

''You're aware the door is open and I can hear you, right Kakashi ?'' Tsunade half-joked, half-growled in irritation. ''Come in here, Uchiha boy. Don't make me stand and drag you in this office because I will do it with that stack of hair of yours.''

He was sure she will. Silent, Sasuke began contemplating the different ideas swirling in his mind. Should he use his Tsukuyomi to trap them in a deadly illusion until their minds are destroyed or the Susano ? Truly, this shouldn't be that hard to escape them and the ANBU – he could outrun them in a matter of seconds if he wanted to. The real problem would be _Naruto_. Sakura wasn't even a blip on the radar for all he cared. But he was stuck, forced back to being a shinobi from this dreaded and loathed village because of this blonde idiot, and he had to cooperate in order to stay sane.

But he wasn't sane anymore. The nightmares plagued him.

Gritting his teeth and shoving Sakura out of his way, the Uchiha traitor stalked in the office with a scowl on his face and stopped in front of the smirking Tsunade. He didn't even acknowledge Naruto's presence nor did he notice his unusual sulky look on his tan face – where did that come from, anyway ? Not minding the unusually silent blonde on his right and completely ignoring the pink-haired medic on his left he just scowled, feeling already irritated by the whole ordeal.

''What the hell do you want ?'' Sasuke was far from pleased to be here.

''_Language, insolent boy_ !'' Tsunade admonished in a growl. ''Just because Naruto and Sakura pleaded for you to remain alive and in this village doesn't mean you can have your way here, that's not going to happen while I'm still Hokage. So you better behave before I smashed this pretty skull of yours.''

''Hn,'' was his only reply. He was still scowling, unimpressed and in a foul mood.

There was a long moment during which the proud Hokage and the murderous avenger engaged a staring match, both ignoring the three others who were observing the display with unease – Naruto, for his part, was still deep stuck in his state due to his previous 'talk' with Hanabi days ago. He hadn't even seemed to react to Tsunade's outburst at the Uchiha as he just stared at nothing in particular, his blue eyes dull and blank.

Hanabi's words still echoed in his mind harshly, like a reminder of his failure towards Hinata.

Lady Tsunade finally sighed, eyes closed. Five seconds later she opened them and regarded the four shinobis. ''All right, let's get started with your mission : you are to steal back three sacred scrolls in a temple in the Snow Country. They were stolen from a wealthy family by thieves very skilled in setting traps,'' she explained when she saw their confused looks, save for Naruto's. She handed them a map with a red 'X' indicated on it. ''The Shion family is waiting for you in their mansion where they will explain everything. You have a week. Any questions ?'' she defied, looking expectantly at everyone – especially at Sasuke, though her gaze lingered on Naruto a little bit.

His scowl deepened. ''Do you expect me to work on this mission _without my complete Sharingan_ ?'' he almost barked. ''Even if I can manage very well on my own with half of its powers, do I really have to remind you that you had me _sealed_ ?''

This was part of the several reasons he wanted to go back to his apartment and never see their faces as much as he could ; as soon as the Fourth Shinobi War was over and the two crazed Uchihas dead, Uchiha Sasuke was immediately apprehended by many ANBU from several villages. Some wanted him to be executed in the spot, others wanted to put him on trial because of his past crimes, his association with the criminal organisation Akatsuki, his attempt on abducting the Jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tailed beast and other crimes he was guilty of, whether he has helped them winning the war or not. With many bargains proposed, screaming from an enraged Uzumaki Naruto who had seemed to have pretty much forgotten his 'best friend's errors' and an annoying and upsetting Haruno Sakura who had taken over the responsability to make sure that he would receive the proper punishment for his crimes, Sasuke had ended free from execution but that hadn't come without another bad surprise.

He had been sealed when they brought him back to Konohagakure. Branded.

At first he hadn't been entirely sure of his feelings about it – although the destroyed brick walls of his prison pretty much showed his true thoughts about the sealing ordeal he had been the victim of – and he might have been quite stunned when he hadn't been able to feel the exquisite sensation of power swirling in him when his Sharingan was active for weeks. Then when Naruto had showed up in his cell with this unnerving wide fox-grin of his, Sasuke had gone _wild_.

_''What the hell berated the both of you, thinking that I would want to come back to this fucking village that murdered my whole clan and manipulated my brother into doing this ?'' he had yelled at Naruto without hesitation. ''Did you seriously think that I would have agreed to come back here and play the good shinobi of Konoha and your supposed friend or something ?''_

_Not even waiting for an answer, he had lunged at him._

Sharp brown eyes narrowed slightly at him. ''That's exactly why I have brought you here, Uchiha.'' Then she called a name and seconds later, an ANBU appeared into thin air at her side. ''You've shown good behaviour during these past days and as a reward, I managed to convince these bunch of old bastards – if you dare to repeat it outside this office your life will be at stake – to remove certain parts of the seal. You will be able to use your kekkei genkai to some extent. Consider yourself happy and lucky, brat.''

Such a _benevolent_ Hokage – but what a _bitch_. ''I'm so 'happy' and 'lucky' I could _scream_,'' he drawled sarcastically, his onyx eyes not leaving the ANBU walking towards him.

The masked shinobi nodded and performed many hand seals in front of Sasuke, who in return felt a burning sensation in his head. He clutched his eyes shut for several seconds until the pain faded. As the gasp from Sakura resoned near him he knew that his famed and powerful Sharingan must be glowing with energy, so he smirked with little satisfaction.

It might not be fully recovered, but it will do for this mission.

Tsunade nodded, her gaze serious and somewhat dark. ''Good. Dismissed !''

* * *

><p>''Why the hell are you quiet, dobe ? Not that I don't mind it but still, it's <em>irritating<em>.''

The sound of Sasuke's voice didn't really seem to pull Naruto out of his trance as he didn't spare him a glance, making the Uchiha muse about decking him behind the head – which he did (with the unnerving urge of unsheathing his katana and just behead him on the spot). He felt somewhat satisfied when the blonde finally reacted and glared at him.

''Hey, what gives ?'' Naruto exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his head.

''I asked you a question, idiot,'' Sasuke replied through narrowed eyes. ''Answer it.''

It has been four hours since they left Konohagakure and the beginning of this journey had been surprisingly – and peacefully – quiet. How many times Sasuke had craved this peace when they were still Team 7 on a mission ? Between the exuberant and loudmouth Naruto who would complain about anything but ramen, the annoying and squealing thing – Sakura – who would always look at him with those lovestruck green eyes and their mysterious sensei who would always have this disturbing orange book in one hand and his sole eye reading its content greedily, young Uchiha Sasuke had _so_ much headaches he would have liked to avoid. Now going back on a mission with those three, all grown up and somewhat matured for some, was kind of odd. _Very odd._ Sasuke was so used to have Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin following him around that he had completely forsaken the feelings about Team 7.

_Hn. Annoying memories._

The blue eyes of his 'best friend' quickly lost their animosity as Naruto lowered his gaze to the ground and looked...crestfallen.

''I've been thinking about...Hinata,'' he said, low.

_Ah._ The dreadful subject that everyone seemed to try to forget even if succeeding in doing it was impossible. Hyuuga Hinata, the kunoichi who had run away from the village. Remaining impassive, Sasuke kept pace with Sakura and Kakashi in front of them and looked anywhere but them – but Naruto knew better. He was listening and attentive. The blonde sighed heavily as he rubbed his eyes.

''I still can't believe that she left the village without telling anyone of her plans. She didn't even tell Shino or Kiba – not even_ her sister_ ! But I'm also to blame into this : I didn't spare her one glance after this because I...there was still that moment when she tried to protect me from Pein and got beaten up as if she was a mere dog – to this Sasuke cast him a curious and almost incredulous look – and I…''

The blonde idiot seemed to struggle with his words.

''She confessed her love to me,'' he finally said.

He had a very hard time believing what he has just heard. _Hyuuga Hinata_ had confronted Pein alone ? _The_ Hyuuga Hinata he remembered back then at the Academy ? He guessed he had missed very much during his time away from the village and as it was expected, everyone must have improved after these years – he remembered the young heiress as an introverted, shy and meek-looking girl who stuttered and always blushed around the dobe. He had always thought her as pathetic and unfit to become a capable kunoichi and a heiress to such important clan as the Hyuuga but if he were to compare the Hyuuga Hinata he remembered as a kid and the Hyuuga Hinata he had seen fighting during the Fourth Shinobi War, he would never admit that she had somewhat impressed him by her skills. Although she mustn't be near her cousin's level he saw that she could very well manage on her own and effectively repelled the Jubi's attacks.

Sasuke snorted when he remembered Naruto's words and mentally cursed his obnoxhious personality labeling him as the oblivious idiot he was. Hyuyga Hinata's feelings for him were so obvious that it was painful to watch years ago and, if he were to be honest, the Uchiha didn't understand what she saw in him. And he certainly didn't care.

''Her sister blames you for having been an asshole and ignoring her.'' Sasuke guessed. He ignored the surprised look on Naruto's face and he sighed in annoyance. ''I heard the brat screaming her head off at you.''

The blonde idiot gaped at him for another three seconds before recovering, returning back to his saddened face. ''And...what's your opinion ?'' he timidly asked, as if afraid of Sasuke's bluntleness.

''I don't care,'' was the cold reply.

_You've always been an idiot, won't ever change._

In front of them, Sakura's shoulders had a slight tremor.

Hours later they found themselves in front of a beautiful mansion, with an exquisite garden that could match the Hyuuga's. Almost. While Sakura and Naruto gushed over the decoration, forgetting their manners, Sasuke just scowled and snapped his head at Kakashi who looked indifferent as always.

''Can't you tell them to snap out of it ?'' he almost growled. ''They're getting on my nerves.''

Kakashi only chuckled low and went to knock on the doors, unfazed by his former pupil's glare. The door opened to a servant – a girl with short brown hair and large dark eyes – who smiled up at them but once Sasuke saw the corners of her mouth lift a little more and a blush appear on her cheeks when she noticed him, he considered using a genjutsu just in case. Just in case she tries anything funny.

He heaved a sigh, feeling the beginning of a headache.

* * *

><p><em>'Hyuuga eyes are precious and offer their user very powerful powers. That is also why we always seal them when we are about to die, so no one can use them. Remember, Hinata : if you are on the verge of dying, remember to seal your eyes so you can die with all your dignity.'<em>

What was fundamental for every Hyuuga was their eyes ; they attracted too much attention and greed from most of shinobis from many villages – Hinata had her little own experience during the chuunin exams and had decided, from the moment she had entered her home, that she will work harder to get stronger in order to manage more on her own. Having been saved by her beloved cousin had made her think on one particularly eventful evening and, eventually, she had started to take Neji as another example to improve herself – besides Naruto. The Uzumaki had to be forgotten and thoroughly banished from her mind in this journey. For _good_. He had forgotten about her after the war, she will just do the same. Her Konoha headband rested in Tsunade's office, a sign that she was shutting herself and cutting all bonds with this village.

This very same village that had been gnawing at her until she finally snaps.

Looking down at the robbers she had incapacited – and also killed silently – she crouched down, ripped a piece of cloth from the sleeve of one of them whose limbs were mangled and stared at it. Her bright, white eyes were too much recognizable – if anyone saw them, she would instantly be deemed as a Hyuuga and would become a potential target for anyone wishing to obtain the Byakugan. Her dojutsu was just too powerful, too unique – too _precious_.

_This can't happen. This won't happen._

She wrapped the piece of cloth carefully around her eyes, let her long hair fall down again and then slowly stood up. She couldn't see with her eyes closed and blindfolded but her other senses could lead. They could be intensified, they could work for – they could _see_ for her. Her hands, her ears and her instinct had to be sharpened, more acute. Hinata took a huge gulp of air, then released it.

_Stronger. Faster. Forget everything behind._


	3. Chapter 3

**A Will of Namazu**

**Author's note 1 :** As I expected, I managed to put a Naruto/Hanabi scene at the Hyuuga compound – I had to, anyway. What did you like in the previous chapter that marked you ? ^^ I'd like to read your thoughts. As for Hinata's training I will detail it as much as I can because I truly want you to see how she will struggle to get stronger. Hence the title of this fan-fiction – she lacked confidence, she will learn to trust her own skills. She lacked leadership, she will learn to lead in her journey.

**A****uthor's note 2 :** So I've just re-watched **How To Train Your Dragon 2** lately...and I loved it! The black dragon is just so cute when it smiles! #iamafangirl. Anyway, I thank you all for those reviews and adds in your lists. Here is the chapter where we would see Hinata beginning a different training from the Hyuuga training.

Oh! And I've been thinking about this : why don't you try to listen to a song that matches each chapter ? If you're thinking of one in particular, please feel free to listen to it while reading the chapter. I'll add some songs of mine in certain chapters of **A Will of Namazu** when I deem it good.

_Find a song to listen to while reading._

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter Three : Flexible and Balanced in the Wind<strong>

Nature surrounded her, watched her – _waited_ for her. Where her keen eyes couldn't see due to the clothing around them she still had her ears, her nose and her hands. Relying on her other senses would help to sharpen them even more and improve her skills ; the Byakugan could see and notice everything through miles if the user extended his sight but if he was suddenly rendered blind, he would be considerably weakened and defeated easily. _So easily killed_. She had strengthened her Byakugan in secret and had selfishly kept it for herself so she could see within miles and miles away – if she could extend her sight beyond her own imagination, there was no way the young kunoichi would be able to refrain herself to stop this kind of training (it felt good not to train under Hyuuga training because she could rely on her imagination to toughen herself). Hinata stood perfectly still on the spot she decided to use as a practice field, bare-footed and blindfolded. Practice was the best way to grow stronger and stronger until she finally reaches the level she was looking for and the young kunoichi couldn't help but think of the time that would take – _years_, surely. Patience must be mustered so she could become strong and mature enough to heal properly. There were wounds that needed to be tended with ways that no one could ever imagine and Hinata being one of those persons in need of healing, she just knew that crying won't ever work. It won't. Training her other senses in the wild with the other elements won't be easy but Hinata had found the idea wonderful ; since water was her element she had thought that starting by wind as an element of balance and grace would greatly help her in certain conditions. She was gracious enough on water and wondered what it would feel like if she was able to do the same while being carried in the wind.

She tilted her head on the side and allowed the gentle breeze to brush her long, silken hair. Sniffing through her nose she recognized many scents – the fish she has just caught, the non-agressive and appeasing smell of the wood, her lavender perfume she always used. Concentrating now on her ears she relaxed and listened ; there were all kinds of noises around her that she easily identified in her head – the chirping of birds, the rushing of water in the river nearby, the rustling of leaves and the whistling of the breeze, noises that she has been accustomed to since her departure from Konohagakure. Noises that she had started to appreciate if she didn't count the robbers she could encounter during her journey. She took a huge gulp of air, then exhaled. She repeated the same action twice.

And she started to move.

She may not have been the strongest Gentle Fist user in her clan but balance was something Hinata greatly excelled at ; others would always think she was graciously and elegantly dancing through the wind when she fought, which was something that she had always felt proud of. Hanabi would complain about her lack of grace and balance and almost whine to Hinata until she complied to teach her how to be as gracious as she was. Her movements were slow at first but picked up in speed when the wind started to gain in strenght : her long hair floated around her like a dark and glistening curtain and followed all her gestures, her body seemed to find its way through the powerful element simply by letting itself get carried on – it turned on its sides, twisted sometimes with this incredible grace. Hinata rarely touched the ground but when she did, it looked like she just lightly bounced again in the air and floated around. It wasn't like she was fighting the element, more like she was dancing with it. Like a leaf.

Leaves, as they are weightless things of nature, let themselves be blown away because they didn't stand a chance against such powerful element. They _couldn't_. But there were things that a simple leaf could teach to someone ; though they are defeated by a more important force of nature they represent the element of simplicity. They don't think as they are blown away – air as an element of lightness could also be interpreted as a symbol of harmony and freedom. It allowed those it blows away to be lifted towards the sky and gravity no longer had effect on people. Hinata had to become the leaf if she desired to master balance in the wind. The leaf always found its way through the wind. So will she in time and with well-found patience.

_'I must free my mind from anything, everything. No thinking.'_

Freeing and emptying her mind was something she needed to work on. There were still thoughts lingering about Konohagakure and their inhabitants, about Inuzuka Kiba, about Aburame Shino – about _Uzumaki Naruto_. The name would always make her feel warm and secure whenever she hears it or thinks about it but now...it left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. This only added fuel to her new training as she ground her teeth in anger. This was her mistake : as she twisted her feet tripped on a root and she nearly lost balance, sending her backwards. Hinata instinctively flipped her body on itself and steadied herself on the grass – on all fours. Good reflexes she relied on and were still sharp.

_First mistake – never let your emotions cloud your actions. It also applies during training._ Oh, she knew that too well for having let the blonde Jinchuuriki play with her feelings. Groaning sharply Hinata slammed her fists on the ground, releasing shaky breaths as she tried – forced herself – to calm down. Again there was the distraction that caused her to lose her concentration and her emotions to take over her mind, it was starting to get on her nerves.

_'This isn't going to work if there still are things linked to Konohagakure…'_

She couldn't deny it : there was her family who must be both shocked and angry about her sudden departure from the village. The Elders must have held a council meeting by now and decided to strip her from her status as heiress, giving it to her little sister. At this thought Hinata felt a pang of guilt clenching her heart and she ground her teeth, finding herself overwhelmed by her own emotions. She had left her little Hanabi to do what she had always wanted to do since she had realized that she was more skilled than her sister – leading the Hyuuga clan and proving her worth to their father had been Hyuuga Hanabi's goal, strenghtened by her hardworking character and forged by her will of fire, but was she even ready for this ? Such position required a lot of composure and skill that was beyond any will Hinata could have mustered even if she had accepted her position as heiress to the clan – her own will wouldn't have stood a chance against the pressure the Hyuuga Elders applied on the Clan Head. It would have been crushed. _She_ would have been crushed had she stayed in this dreaded village. Hanabi was worth the title – because she didn't lack confidence. Though Shino, Kiba and Akamaru had always been there to support and train with her there was always that spark gleaming in her bright eyes : whether it was a spark of determination or despair, Hinata had always pushed herself to her limits but her confidence was the last thing she couldn't master. Yet. Hanabi had been better at almost everything and that was why their father had praised her training instead of Hinata's. The Hyuuga Clan favored strenght and skill the most among other things in a shinobi.

Her ties with Konohagakure were still existent, she could feel it. _Naruto with his cheerful and excessive personality_. She slightly dug her fingers into the earth, her body stiffened with uneasiness. _Naruto with his sky blue eyes shining with this unwavering determination to protect everybody_.

''Stop,'' she muttered.

The images wouldn't, however. They still flowed in her mind, persistent and hurtful. It took every bit of her self-control to remain neutral as she struggled to maintain order in her mind.

_Naruto laughing and claiming Ichiraku at his favorite place in Konoha._

Her body visibly stiffened and her eyes narrowed behind the blindfold she was wearing. She ground her teeth together, brows furrowing in increasing irritation. ''Stop.''

The more those dreaded memories of Uzumaki Naruto, the more Hinata felt herself panting from stress and...rage. While she willed her body and mind to listen to her there were those images flashing rapidly, showing memories the old Hyuuga Hinata wouldn't forget and erase from her mind. They just wouldn't leave her alone.

_Naruto asking her if she wanted to have ramen with him, flashing her his foxy grin she had grown to love. She loved him. She loved him so much..._

''STOOOOP !''

Her own yell startled her. It even scared some birds and chipmunks around as they scattered away in frantic movements in their branches. Hinata didn't yell – she had never yelled since she had been a child and never once she had raised her voice on Hanabi (until recently before her departure). So hearing herself yell at nothing in particular since no one was talking almost frightened her and she stilled, panting and out of breath. Her heartbeat was too fast. However, the images and memories stopped flowing and haunting her.

Relaxing and freeing her mind of everything were two things she couldn't seem to learn, not right now. Not yet. There were still too many things and strings relating her to Konohagakure and Hinata had yet to clear her mind of those memories. Strong bonds like she had with Shino, Kiba, Akamaru and the others were absolutely made of steel and incredibly hard to destroy ; where her own family failed to provide her with the love and friendship Hinata craved, she had found them within her teammates and friends. Shino, Kiba and Akamaru were...they were everything to Hyuuga Hinata and she had sworn she would do anything to protect them, to protect this bond they all had together. Selfless as she was with them, she would always care for their well-being before her own and to that they had sometimes reprimanded her. Forsaking those memories of her friends and family was proving to be harder and more hurtful than she had originally thought : she still could remember Tsunade's stunned expression when Hinata had announced her plan to leave the village, she still could trace the information reaching the Hokage's mind as she processed it. She could even imagine Shizune's reaction. Yes, they must be all crushed. But they would eventually move on, like always.

Because Hinata would do everything to sever her ties with them in order to find solace.

* * *

><p><em>'A blind one could see many things that others couldn't. Right, Hatsue ?'<em>

Hatsue was a Hyuuga kunoichi of jounin rank from the Main House and one of Hinata's favorite Hyuuga members of the clan because of her calm, almost soothing personality. She was both strong and kind, which was rather contrasting with their clan rules ; where most of the Hyuuga schooled their emotions behind this serene and blank mask Hatsue didn't bother showing her true feelings and emotions. She never did, just like Hinata. What made her appear weak to others just steeled and strengthened her resolution and determination. As a kunoichi Hatsue was strong but one day, one of her missions turned awful to her and the results were disastrous.

Hyuuga Hatsue had lost her sight due to a powerful genjutsu cast on her and the straining of her Byakugan to break through the deadly illusion. Blindness was something that no Hyuuga could have handled, they valued their sight with so much praise and pride that the very idea of becoming blind due to an injury of that magnitude had become their worst fear. The decision from the Elders had been immediate and Hyuuga Hatsue was rendered a lady of the Main House, married to another member of the Main House and had given birth to two children. When she had first heard the news about Hatsue's ordeal Hinata had been sad for her.

She mused about it while eating her now lukewarm fish. Hatsue had never seemed to be burdened with her handicap, on the contrary : it seemed that she had used it to her own advantage by sharpening her other senses and thinking about other things that had no link with the life of a kunoichi. Incapacited she may be, but ever sharp and useful she remained without her Byakugan. Never helpless, Hatsue had held no everlasting grudge against the shinobi who had stolen her life but the changes had come with great difficulties to adapt to this new kind of life ; the eyesight of a Hyuuga was more precious and more valuable than his own life and suddenly being rendered blind disturbed his world greatly. Hinata had no doubt that Hatsue must have felt useless, immensely weak. _Defeated_. However, there was that burning spark of determination dominating over the fear inside her core that persuaded her to move on, to get out of the over-protective and forced shell disposed around her by the Hyuuga and adapt to her new kind of life as a blind woman.

Hinata had always admired her. Hatsue was someone who seemed, for reasons she still couldn't understand, to see more than her eyes could have seen when they were still functioning ; Hinata had watched her movements closely as a child, intrigued and – very – eager to learn how Hatsue was capable to know her surroundings and move without hurting herself (and with such grace nonetheless!). She knew exactly _where_ to retrieve a box her mother had given her when she was a young girl and _where_ to sit while avoiding obstacles within her way. It was puzzling to watch, but full of ways to learn tactics. In a way, Hyuuga Hatsue wasn't completely blind per se.

For the first time in days she smiled. It was faint but there. Learning from Hatsue was a very good idea to improve her flexibility and balance in the wind and since it was one of her elements, Hinata felt furthermore inclined to remember and follow the secret training Hyuuga Hatsue had taught her during her childhood.

''_A sound mind works with a sound body_,'' she recalled Hatsue's words. These were her main rules to remember and use when she trained as a blind woman. Through wind and water she wanted to be as fluid and deadly as possible – beyond this level would be marvelous – and the likelihood of learning more powerful techniques of ninjutsu with the scrolls she had taken with her was high and terribly tempting. ''_Your sound mind must be like the void where no one can enter or whoever does will find himself lost. Impenetrable __like a fortress and hard like steel. Then the blind cannot be corrupted and will see through blackness._''

_Void. Your mind must become a void._

She took a gulp of fresh air, breathed evenly and sat there waiting. Patience had to be learned through rough training and in battles where abilities were praised and prepared, something Hinata had learned through many battles. So she waited in silence, ignoring the cicadas singing somewhere in the back and the rustle of small animals in the grass. It only lasted for some minutes ; when the wind suddenly blew against her, sending her hair flying around her, Hinata stilled. _There!_ Through her blindfolded eyes she could notice faint, _very_ faint spots. If she tried to decipher them in the blackness she would assume they resembled the objects she had recognized as rocks, boulders and the slump form of her duffel bag. There were her surroundings.

Hinata almost grinned largely with a small cry of joy. It was a beginning – a weak one but definitely present and existent.

''Void,'' she murmured. ''My mind will become a void, then.''

* * *

><p><em>'Something is wrong.'<em>

Even though he had helped the Shinobi Alliance to win the Fourth Shinobi War, Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't be forgiven so easily for his crimes and he knew it. His return to the Hidden Village of the Leaf hadn't gone unheard of anyone – especially rogue shinobis and robbers who were willing and vengeful enough to slaughter the last Uchiha. After Team Kakashi has been briefed about the sacred scrolls that had been stolen from the Shion family the three of them had continued their journey towards the Snow Country, but Sasuke's Sharingan hadn't been deceived at the mansion.

_He didn't seem to pay attention as the couple talked with his teammates and his sensei, his crimson eyes watched carefully the maid positioned behind them. There was something strange emanating from her as if her calm and aloofness were only visible to hide...was the blush Sasuke had seen on her cheeks also made up and absolutely fake ?_

His gaze was drilling holes into her bones and despite her cool and impassive demeanor, he knew that she was bluffing. Who had not heard of the infamous and deadly Uchiha Sasuke yet ? He was ready to bet that this so-called maid had something very important and threatening to hide behind this suspicious behaviour of hers and his Sharingan was already active, ready to put her under his Tsukuyomi after he had robbed her of her secrets.

_''The scrolls were given in our family from generation to generation,'' Shion Daichi told them as he relinquished in the embrace of his wife sitting at this side. ''They were sacred because they hold many secrets that only members of our family may know about. I haven't been able to go through their history yet but there are…'' He seemed to hesitate, gulping loudly in an attempt to mask his evident fear. ''Those thieves said that they have known about the scrolls for a very long time and have been planning to steal them s-so, we thought that setting guards all over the mansion would protect us b-but…''_

_''Only four of them survived the attack and the others…'' Shion Kaoru shuddered, eyes closed in anguish at the memory. She opened them again and set them on Kakashi. ''We don't understand, it was as if they knew where to set their traps and kill our bodyguards.''_

His hand shot up and tightened painfully around the 'maid's neck in an almost bone-crushing grip. Sasuke ignored her startled gasp and his teammates's exclamations as he stared at the girl, unmoved. How long was she going to keep this up ? It was starting to irate him.

''Sasuke!'' Sakura wailed, frantic.

He didn't even acknowledge her. ''You're good at lying to your 'employers' but did you _really_ _think_ you could actually be able to fool me ?'' His voice was coated with drip sarcasm and mockery as his crimson eyes took in the writhing girl in his grasp. ''Stupid of you to think something like this. How long have you been working for them as a 'maid' ?'' He drawled the word with contempt.

''Hey, what's your problem ?'' Naruto came to him, grabbing a fistful of Sasuke's shirt. His blue narrowed darkly at him. ''Why are you attacking this poor girl, she hasn't done anything to you!''

''You _seriously think_ she is that innocent, Naruto ?'' Sasuke growled harshly.

''_Yes_!''

Sasuke stared at him.

_Buffoon_.

The orange-clad ninja suddenly went flying backwards and crashed into a tree as Sasuke violently threw the 'maid' at him, irate and infinitely annoyed with the Jinchuuriki. The Uchiha ignored Sakura's wails as she ran toward her teammate to help him up and the girl, his eyes narrowing and teeth gritting in furious irritation. Who could be more dumb and idiotic than _Uzumaki Naruto_ himself ? It was becoming more and more difficult to resist the very tempting urge to set him on fire with a Katon for his stupidity and obliviousness. Sasuke was even ready to bet that Kakashi himself had already guessed that the girl was an imposter and part of the thieves who robbed the Shion family – despite him having been reading his porn while the couple was talking and mostly crying their heads off.

Naruto wasn't up on his feeth that Sasuke already had the girl pinned to the ground. As swift as ever he slammed two kunai deep into her four limbs and the earth to maintain her in place. The bloodcurling scream escaping her lungs was like music to his ears, full of sudden pain, almost making him smirk at her. Her expression twisted and twitched uncontrollably as her chest heaved, releasing harsh breaths, and her eyes never ceased to open and close. She was struggling to stay conscious. _Good_. Sasuke deliberately sat on her belly to face her, ignoring the sudden gasp and the shocked exclamation from his idiotic teammates, and merely glared murderously at the girl. Kakashi, though he wasn't reading his damn porn, was strangely silent and impassive as he just watched the scene.

''I'm not going to ask you again,'' the Uchiha said calmy, yet scathily, his Sharingan swirling.

Naruto and Sakura shared a glance before looking at their sensei, who ignored them, and anxiously turned their attention back to Sasuke and the girl. After several seconds she managed to crack her dark eyes open, still twitching as the pain throbbed in her limbs. Her breath hitched upon seeing the famed and deadly Mangekyo Sharingan.

Her voice came out hoarse. ''I-I…''

She coughed harshly, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Sasuke's grip on her throat had left red marks of his fingers and surely done some internal damages to her vocals. _Good enough_.

''It started three months ago...I was charged with the task to i-infiltrate the Shion family and study their whereabouts u-until my superiors could come up with a plan to steal the scrolls.'' Her coughing came back as she avoided Sakura's half-surprised, half-disappointed glare. ''Shion Daichi didn't seem to trust me s-so I concentrated on his wife because sh-she appeared to be so naive and k-kind…'' Her dark eyes drifted away with a somewhat saddened look but Sasuke scoffed. He wasn't buying it.

''_Please_, don't tell me you've grown attached to her. Remorse ? That's nice and all but I'm not stupid like those two in the back. The likes of you don't care about anyone and anything except money.'' She flinched under his sarcastic and suddenly went still when she felt cold fingers grasping her chin and tilting it until she could look at the terrifying Sharingan of Uchiha Sasuke. ''You're a good liar and trying to confuse me with crocodile tears won't work. Did you try to use that on that woman so you could kill her ?''

''No!'' the girl blurted out, feeling herself panick. ''I-I really like Lady Kaoru!''

''Hn. Yet you still betrayed her trust. How disgraceful of _you_.''

''Y-you don't understand!'' she cried out.

She tried to bite out another scream as the traitor mercilessly plunged two other kunai in her shoulder blades, but failed anyway. Naruto looked about to lunge towards Sasuke and pummeling him but remained on his spot, unable to watch this kind of torture and the grass stained with her blood. His fists were clenched painfully against his sides and his jaws were starting to ache due to his teeth gritting together. Again he saw nothing under the surface of her innocence and cute behaviour, he just thought that she was being respectful and enthralled by Sasuke. Again he was fooled so easily and once again it was Sasuke who first noticed that something was wrong with her, not him.

_Fool_.

The silence was once again cut by the girl's panicked rambling. ''M-my masters swore that they won't kill them, they just needed the scrolls! Their deaths didn't matter to them!''

''Then why did you stay behind ?'' Sakura cut in, her voice dry.

''I...want to stay with them,'' the girl admitted in a whisper. She gulped rather loudly. ''You probably won't believe me but I-I've grown to...care for Lady Kaoru. She is a kind and loving wife and she reminded me of my own mother when she was still alive. Have you ever known the love of a protective mother ? Mine disappeared on me years ago and I was left alone. Until I found the Shion family.''

The silence that met her answer was almost deafening and painful. Without even noticing it Sakura and Naruto were holding their breaths, anxiously waiting for Sasuke's reaction. Kakashi's visible eye stared at his pupil with growing tension.

Sasuke's face had gone blank just like his brain. The girl's words were echoing in his mind but he didn't seem to notice it, too stunned to react. A mother ? A protective _and_ loving mother ? Yes, he knew that feeling. He had known the feeling in his childhood before all this happiness was tainted with blood and hatred, fueled with cold-blooded revenge and loneliness. There was also Itachi's betrayal that burned and ruined everything for him, ruined every chance to grow like any happy child with a family and – as stupid as it sounds to him – with to view the world in another way. All of this was gone and ripped from him, he wouldn't have the chance to know that again. And yet this girl still thought that those masters of hers would gladly welcome her back after her betrayal. She still had hope.

_Hope_. There had been no hope for him back when he was the lone Uchiha in Konohagakure.

Then his expression contorted with indignant rage as his Sharingan swirled. His Tsukuyomi would be his answer. Her memories will be stolen and _then_ she will know how hope could be _mercilessly ripped_ from her just like how it was ripped from him.

* * *

><p>''Sasuke!''<p>

The Uchiha ignored the loudmouth and annoying blonde and kept leaping from branche to branche. His teammates and sensei tried to follow his very fast pace and none of their calls had yet to catch his attention. His mind was set to Snow Country, where they would find those robbers and retrieve the damn scrolls. This was also where he would let his mind go on wild rampage ; he needed to kill. He needed to see blood and hear terrifying screams coming out from those bastards after what _that girl_ had dared to say about mothers and love. Said girl was settled on his back, her eyes wide and seeming to look faraway, her face twisted with an expression of sheer terror disturbing her features. Sakura had tended her injuries and had bandaged her limbs, albeit reluctantly because of the intensity of the Uchiha's death glare drilling holes in her back. Sasuke's Tsukuyomi had caught her in his deadly illusions while she has been crying for mercy but he had been unmoved. Her mind needed to be broken for what she had said to him.

_Have you ever known the love of a protective mother ?_

He had heard no malice in her words but even words don't have to be expressed to understand malice from someone's mouth. It wasn't in her eyes either but Sasuke _had felt_ it – his instincts never failed him. Everyone had heard about the bloody Uchiha massacre and the infamous Uchiha Sasuke that had murdered his own brother for revenge, he wouldn't have been be surprised if she had used this knowledge to throw him off balance. His sanity was being questioned but if it wasn't for this mission given by Tsunade, Sasuke would have _gladly_ shown that girl how much he missed his mother and everything about her. In more _extremely_ painful and horrible ways.

''Sasuke-kun…'' It was Sakura. She appeared on his right, looking worried. ''Sasuke, are you—''

''Shut. Up.'' His voice was disturbing, devoid of emotion.

It didn't seem to be enough for Sakura. ''But—''

This time his crimson eyes shot up at her, full of malice and dark. The young woman obediantly clamped her mouth shut and swallowed almost fearfully, finally understanding the message. _Good girl_.

But not Naruto.

''Bastard!'' he exclaimed loudly, oblivious to the very foul mood and the killing intent clouding over the raven-haired man. ''Will you listen to me ? Why did you have to put her under a genjutsu ? Okay, she is guilty, but you just could have let her go! Where is the harm in letting go and forgiving her ? Answer me, Sasuke!''

Again he was ignored. The Uchiha just kept following a path toward Snow Country with the girl hanging on his back, stuck under a very powerful and mind-breaking genjutsu only Uchihas would know how to break through. And Naruto didn't know whether he should be decking Sasuke for snobing him or yelling obscenities at him. But the Jinchuuriki couldn't get this memory out of his mind : the look on Sasuke's face wasn't blank or angry. It was a mix of anger...and _insanity_. While his eyes screamed 'mangled murder' when he put the girl under his Tsukuyomi his hands shot up and would have pierced through her throat, her head – her _entire_ body with his katana if Kakashi hadn't moved. He and Sakura were too slow to react.

His heart had skipped many heartbeats and he had found himself out of breath. Naruto had never been so scared shitless for an innocent civilian. What they had witnessed back there wasn't something normal. This wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke they used to know years back when they were genins, this man had looked both enthralled and ready to make a bloody, mangled mess with the young maid. This wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke Naruto had grown to accept as a friend, a brother and a rival, this man leaping in front of him was a stranger looking exactly like Sasuke who was as merciless as the most cold-blooded assassin of the ANBU – if he wasn't already an ANBU. Naruto wouldn't probably admit it but he was almost afraid to call his dearest friend a monster.

Night was falling and they needed to rest. But Sasuke wouldn't hear any of it and kept leaping from branche to branche. Naruto tried unsuccessfully to tune out the furious growls of his stomach but couldn't erase his tortured expression – because damn, he needed to eat!

''Sasuke.''

Kakashi's stern voice made Naruto and Sakura stop immediately and, surprisingly, Sasuke too. He didn't turn around but his posture indicated that he was listening, albeit grudgingly. The Copy-Cat shinobi crossed his arms over his built chest and stared 'lazily' at his student.

''I'm not speaking out of concern to prevent you from going into a killing rampage, it's not my business.'' he said. ''But as your former sensei I'm _asking you_ to stop and rest until the morning. You running up like this in this state of mind isn't healthy at all and, if I'm correct in my own assumption, slaughtering every living person of that gang – including this girl on your back – is the only way for you to calm down those murderous pulsions coming off from you. If you choose to keep running to Snow Country you will jeopardize the mission and probably ruin the slightest chance to come back in Konoha and live there as a shinobi. Tsunade will probably put you in prison and she will do it _gladly_.''

The Uchiha still didn't budge.

''Don't be stupid Sasuke, you're a lot smarter than that.''

There was a long, tense moment during which no one dared to move – or breathe, depends on who was trying to remain calm and composed. Sakura was eying Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke from times to times, biting her lips in nervousness and clenching her fists together on her sides. The Jinchuuriki was watching nothing in particular and seemed out of space but if someone was attentive enough, he would notice that his posture was a little tense. As if he was ready to move in case of some 'incident'. Kakashi was staring at Sasuke, silent and patient. Waiting.

Another minute passed. And the girl slipped from the Uchiha's back and started to fall down, down. _Down_. Down to a certain death and down to a broken skull due to the height.

There was a horrified gasp as Naruto plunged to catch her, having prepared himself for whatever would have come out from his friend. He receptioned the young 'maid' in his arms and landed on the grass, then snapped his head up in silent dread to discover if Sasuke had taken advantage of the surprise to disappear. He was immensely relieved to see that the raven-haired hadn't moved and was staring ahead of him, still eerily silent as a shadow. Sakura, having landed beside him to check any injury on the girl, was absolutely livid. His heart, beating madly after this tremenduous and horrifying event, had trouble calming down and Naruto was even more astonished to find himself out of breath.

_By the gods_.

This was...Naruto shook his head, refusing to believe it. Rejecting it. _Denying_ it.

* * *

><p>''Tsunade, we demand to know what is going on in this village.''<p>

The busty Hokage didn't even raise her head to acknowledge the two intruders and poured herself a cup of sake.

''Really ? I owe you bastards absolutely nothing. Not even something close to an explanation.''

She also didn't have to raise her head to see their scowls and for that she was thankful ; the urge to pummel the Elders's faces was already starting to itch in her fingers and she had to clench her left fist shut in order to remain aloof and composed. First they didn't call a meeting and dare to barge into her office, then they _demanded_ an explanation ? This had to be a joke – and _thank God_ she had managed to reach her bottle of sake before those old sacks of bile came in, because she would have already started screaming her lungs off.

Both Elders sat down on the chairs and stared at Tsunade with the scowl still in place. Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had never understood their Hokage's motivation – and maybe they never will. Watching her gulping that sake of hers at this hour of the day, while she must be _working _instead of _slacking off_, was astonishing and upsetting. The Sannin was upsetting herself. How she managed to rule the village and be as hard as steel was mind-blowing, forget the fact that she was still refusing to step down.

''Hyuuga Hinata,'' Homura said sternly.

Sharp, brown eyes slowly looked up towards them. Then narrowed dangerously. ''What about her ?'' the Hokage asked nonchalantly.

''We want you to add her into the Bingo Book.''

* * *

><p>The snow was pure white as it fell on her. White and so beautiful. She had always loved winter as it was the month of her birthday and, of course, because of the snow. Playing in the snow had been one of her favorite games back when she had been a child, forgetting the cold weather and the chilling temperature of the wind. For wind and water were her elements Hinata had always felt close with winter and snow.<p>

Her slender, feminine hand rose to caress her covered and secure eyes with a gentle brush. _Secure and unseen you must remain_. Dressed with a snow white, fluffy coat to blend within the harsh snowstorm, the young Hyuuga had heard something quite interesting in the tavern she has just left ; apparently a gang of skilled trap masters robbed a rich family that possessed three 'sacred scrolls' that must contain dark secrets and numerous jutsu that only powerful shinobi could learn and control. What was very helpful with drunken men was their uncontrolled talking, then anyone who was attentive to the most interesting story in a tavern could grasp some extremely attractive things, whether they were true or not. But nothing could go unnoticed by a Hyuuga, not even some wrapped piece of map.

''Snow Country,'' her soft voice announced.

She turned around. Through her hood and with her instincts she could feel the gaze of the injured man behind her, his ragged breaths coming out ever slowly. His limbs were mangled in a weird angle that must be unbearable for him, blood dripping from some parts of his body. He was already losing consciousness due to blood loss but he was using his last reserves of strenght to look at the woman was going to end his pitiful life.

''It's fine,'' she told him as she approached his slaughtered body in such graceful way that he couldn't help but admire her in his last moments. He couldn't see her eyes but he somehow guessed that they must be reflecting nothing but emptiness. But her voice was so enthralling! ''You've helped me and in return, I'll help you.''

_Numb_. He felt numb and so defenseless. So useless – so _weak_. He looked up as she hovered him, now silent. And beautifully terrifying. His heart skipped a beat as she raised her two hands in a way he had never seen before. He watched, still enchanted, as they stroke towards him at an alarming speed.

He never saw his blood splatter everywhere but the woman, tainting the splendid, white snow.

_'Your void is yours to remain as it is. Tainted in black or white.'_


	4. Chapter 4

**A Will of Namazu**

**Author's note 1:** Finally started this new series **''Hannibal''** – in French, of course. But I don't mind English. And it's FAN-TAS-TIC! #iamafaniamafan. I'm so completely enthralled by the story! And in love!

So I've read all your reviews and I'm really happy that you seemed to like **A Will of Namazu**. As my very first SasuHina fanfiction I needed to make you discover the inner pains Hinata managed to hide within and from everyone else. She can be weak for many, but she could also be stronger for others. I think she is stronger than anyone gives her credit for but for some reasons of mine, I want to see her broken. I want you to see her broken. Then blackened, a bit like Sasuke. Will she be considered as an enemy of Konohagakure? I'll be the judge of that. Thank you for your support and reviews!

**Author's note 2:** And because this is a **Romance/Hurt/Comfort** fanfiction, you'll see why I think Hyuuga Hinata should have been the one to end up with Uchiha Sasuke. For this chapter, I was inspired by Azula's mental breakdown (from ''**Avatar: The Last Airbender**''). Watch it on YouTube, tap « Azula's Mental Breakdown » and you'll find it; her last battle against her brother Zuko left her absolutely broken and when she cried...it makes me think that Hinata's own mental breakdown is kind of similar.

By the way, I'm sure everyone has read ''**Naruto''**'s last chapter by now and to put it lightly...I'm_ so disappointed_. Especially with _Sakura_. Didn't she confess to Naruto? This is...I don't have any words to describe that. Sure, Naruto and Hinata look great together but I had this feeling that Hinata would have been absolutely _gorgeous_ with Sasuke. She understands _everyone_!

Uh. Whatever.

_Find a song to listen to while reading._

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><p><span><strong>Chapter Four : Red in the Snow<strong>

Their camp was situated on the west of her position behind snowy hills, according to the man she had caught sneaking on her three hours ago. Hinata's Byakugan was strong and efficient enough to see through powerful genjutsu and the more she learned with the Hyuuga scrolls she took with her weeks ago, the longer she could cast some dangerous genjutsu over her preys to use them. Part of the training she imposed on herself concerned all sorts of ninjutsu and genjutsu she could learn and utilize them to protect herself and kill – she was still a kunoichi and the last times she had killed were out of necessity. Sort of. Or maybe Hinata didn't know if killing was becoming something she did most of the time because she didn't want to have to face her regrets later or because she feared retaliation. Killing was something the old Hyuuga Hinata had always despised and avoided – unless she really had no further choice – but now that she had faced the horrors of the Fourth Shinobi War, hesitation seemed to have vanished from her mind and thoughts. The void that her mind was working on pushed all forms of perplexity away and if Hinata wanted to be frank, she wouldn't need to lie to herself; she would have already broken in tears after having taken the life of a target because she was too kind-hearted for a kunoichi, too innocent to hurt someone very badly. This time she had stayed silent and had listened, head slightly tilted, to the wind blowing furiously through the corpse's clothes. There were no tears, they would have frozen on her cheeks. And for several seconds she had watched her work, had admired the blood reddening the pure, white snow she loved so much.

She was a kunoichi. Shinobis killed. Hinata was an innocent and kind kunoichi but this time, there were no kindness and no innocence in this crime.

The bloody, slaughtered body she had buried under tons of snow was a horrible beginning but efficiently worth it. The idea of bursting into tears hadn't even crossed her mind and Hinata had both sounded and looked so aloof that it was alien to act like an actual Hyuuga – or _something else_. Her clan members sure were aloof persons who veiled their emotions behind those impassive masks but for someone like Hinata, it sounded out of place. _Wrong_. Her father had told her she was the spitting image of her mother – kind-hearted, soft and very beautiful. Exotic. She gave smiles that were so similar to her that it was hurting her father, their looks were just so alike. So kind and innocent. 'Weakling', Hinata had been called.

_But weaknesses themselves could hide a greater, darker strenght within_.

What did Neji's death did to her exactly? She had thought that she would likely be able to lie her way around and show that coping with the deaths of so many people wouldn't break her, she had said that her father's passing wouldn't have such an impact on her. Had she been wrong all this time? More than likely. Her smiles and the looks she would give to anyone here for her spoke for herself, her behaviour showed more agressiveness and more anger towards everyone in her path. Hinata had begun to shut down, her mind slowly becoming the void that was starting to invade her entire body and soul. This void erased any form of rational thought that the Hyuuga Hinata everyone in Konohagakure knew was still the one they used to love and know; it was blackened, ruled by an unique thought this woman seemed to follow. If deciding to become stronger was her purpose, then something must have driven her to start this killing rampage on her path – a path where she could still count the number of corpses she was leaving behind. Anger? Sadness? Or a darker feeling that, strangely, has begun to fuel her resentment and this alien killing intent radiating off from her?

White eyes closed slowly behind the cloth that was covering them and she activated her Byakugan. The camp was fairly large and occupied a good portion of the hill; there were many people groveling around, talking with animosity. Concentrating a little more she could perceive the traps set all around their lair; thin, almost invisible strings shaken by the gentle breeze. They were everywhere – in the air, on the ground (while being covered by snow), _everywhere_! Had she not been a Byakugan user and extended her range of vision she would have been caught long before she could have shed blood. Hinata hadn't trained to read on someone's lips (something she vowed to do right after having stolen the scrolls) but there were words brought to her by the wind. She leaned closer.

''...sealed completely...can't open...need a Hyuuga…''

_This_ perked Hinata's attention. Fighting against her own astonishment she stealthily moved and blended into the snow, for her coat was as white as the frozen element. Why would those thieves need a Hyuuga? Were the scrolls really sealed? And more importantly, _did those sacred scrolls belong to __the__ Hyuuga __clan_?

There was ruff grunt. ''We're no shinobis and _certainly not_ Hyuuga. Even if we're skilled in our domain we'd be long dead before we got one in our hands.'' A short pause and a curse. ''Why did those rich imbeciles have those scrolls anyway? They don't even belong to the Hyuuga clan and don't have their freaky white eyes!''

''That Shion guy said those scrolls were given to the males of his family from generation to generation, bla bla bla...but I think he was lying. Why in the world such a proud clan would give their sacred scrolls to idiotic rich _civilians_ who aren't even capable to protect themselves? From what we've gathered about them, the Hyuuga clan is overprotective of their secrets and their eyes, because they wouldn't want them in the hands of someone who would use their power in a wrong way, they're too selfish to share. So the question is, how the hell did they get those scrolls?''

''Now isn't the time to answer riddles, idiot!'' There was another pause in which the wind whistled before their words rang in Hinata's strained ears. ''Taka told us to be observant and on watch, he must be expecting some company soon since those Shion must have ratted us out to a Shinobi Village. And if we're damn lucky – which I seriously doubt considering Taka's malchance – we won't have to deal with shinobis from the Hidden Village of the Leaf and possibly _irate_ Hyuugas. Who is that desperate to die by their hands? I'm not and I'll tell you what: if a Hyuuga shows up here to kill us, just run! I heard their techniques are deadly!''

''But what if Taka hears about our—''

They were still talking but Hinata had already tuned them out as she processed all those informations in her mind – precious informations that were indeed very interesting, more interesting than ever now. She didn't even react to the hushed tone of those two men as they shared dreading thoughts and words that they surely didn't want anyone else to hear, she was too caught up in her thoughts. And Hinata was, at this point, on the verge of screaming in outrage. She had even deactivated her Byakugan to collect her thoughts in blackness.

The scrolls were sealed by the _Hyuuga clan_. The scrolls could only be unsealed by the _Hyuuga clan only_. _Those scrolls were stolen and belonged to the Hyuuga clan_! How did those Shion happen to have these in their hands? If this was true and not some made up lie by those thugs then there were numerous possibilities and explanations to this unamusing charade – because Hinata, who was thoroughly against violence, was feeling rather eager to shed the blood of every trap master of this camp.

Either A: a member of the Hyuuga clan, from the Branch House or the Main House, had certainly long ago disappeared from Konohagakure and was carrying with him/her three sacred scrolls belonging to the clan. The possibilities of him/her having been attacked while travelling were impossible to count but there was a high chance that the Hyuuga shinobi was likely dead. His/Her scrolls may have been found on his/her corpse by those Shion guys.

Either B: the Hyuuga faced a funest fate and must have been murdered – in that case, Hinata feared that she would possibly find well conserved Hyuuga eyes somewhere in this camp and if someone had them transplanted in his eyeballs, plucking the eyeballs out while making the profanator suffer the living hell would _somehow_ relieve her. The sacred scrolls may have been taken on the corpse, probably by Shion guys in the past and they must have gushed over their prize so many times that they must have forgotten the real story. Lying must have been so much easier than telling the truth, thus avoiding a cold, indignant humiliation and a cruel, extremely painful death from the hands of a Hyuuga should he hear about the scrolls.

Either C: ...there were liars from the beginning and those Shion might be guilty in some way or another, along with those thieves. Maybe they were partners and the theft was some kind of trap that certainly would have led to an ambush to whoever had come to help them recover their 'stolen treasure'. This assumption may be considered as paranoid but who would trust anyone? Hinata was done trusting everyone's words. Especially _Naruto's_.

Hinata actually struggled to keep down those urges to get out of her hideout and slaughter everyone in this camp of thieves. No matter what they would want to say for their defense it wouldn't do it. Stealing sacred scrolls from her clan was already something she couldn't tolerate but to have the gall to _pretend_ that those scrolls were passed from generation to generation in a simple civilian family was outrageous, insulting. Thinking about just made her hands shake in eagerness to hurt, to tear apart – _to kill_.

The thought alone should have shocked her to the bone but she didn't even flinch or blink, so concentrated on visualizing the terrible slaughter she was about to commit. Her face, which was half covered by the cloth around her eyes, showed a gentle, 'almost warm' smile. It would have looked awfully wrong if her lavender eyes were uncovered and cast the look devoid of emotion they were holding. If you were very attentive and sensitive, you would have felt that intense yet kept down killing intent floating around her, contrasting with this smile of hers on her pink, lush lips. Anyone who knew Hyuuga Hinata as the kindest woman would be unpleasantly proven wrong if they were to say that she was incapable of feeling and doing something so intense and dark as assassinating mercilessly, because her personality was just too innocent and sweet to be questioned. Everyone thought and affirmed that she was far too innocent to have done something so horrible.

Was she still that innocent and sweet since her terrible mental breakdown?

_'I've buried myself.'_

No one in this camp was going to remain alive. Hyuuga Hinata will make sure of that. There will be red in the snow.

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><p>As dawn began to light everything around him with the first sunbeams Uchiha Sasuke had wasted no time in waiting for the three others to catch up – they will eventually and if one of them tried to slow him down, there will be blood. He had left long before Kakashi and Naruto could stop him. The young avenger didn't sleep last night and couldn't have found rest with the nightmares plaguing and waiting for him; remaining awake had become a habit he couldn't get rid of. Seeing his dead parents in his nightmares, listening to Itachi's cruel words telling him he wasn't even worth killing and having to face the walking corpse of his older brother had broken something in his mind that made everyone question his sanity: mental issues were a matter that no one was comfortable with and Sasuke would bet his arm that Haruno Sakura was stupid enough to think that they could rebuild their life together if – always that <em>if<em>, because _Sakura_ was the kind of woman who would always try to have him even if he was blackened with madness – he accepted to let her get him. No matter what would transpire of the consequences of her words and actions, he was sure that the pink-haired idiot would find a way to forgive him for _any_ of _his_ actions.

So Sasuke didn't feel any regret for piercing Sakura with his Chidori.

_''Sasuke…'' her voice cracked slightly, as if she was ready to cry. ''Since when—''_

_His obsidian eyes were as cold as the winter itself and showed a promise of death. He didn't even want to humour her and chose to respond. ''Since you and Naruto brought me back to Konoha. Against my will. I had this feeling that this buffoon would have found a way to sway the other Kage into letting me go despite my crimes, because he had always thought that I still could come back as Uchiha Sasuke and have a life there. I really should have killed you when I had the chance. Had the Copy-Ninja not interfered your body would be buried under tones of water thanks to my Chidori.'' He almost smirked as Sakura flinched at his words and some tears fell from her green eyes. ''Did you ever wonder why I always wanted to cut my ties with you all and this dreaded village?''_

_She didn't respond. Of course not._

_''Of course not.'' Sasuke deadpanned. ''Here, let me show you.''_

_And before she could even open her lips in a scream she felt the burning, extremely painful blow of his powerful jutsu in her chest. Sakura hadn't seen him move but she could feel this excruciating pain. It radiated through her body like thousands of burning nerves all hit at the same time, rendering her completely still. Her body couldn't respond to her and all the poor girl could do was watching those obsidian eyes looking down at her with cold, hurtful indifference. Her blood must be pouring down on his arm, soaking his arm wet with the dark liquid._

_Viridian eyes finally widened in realization and she was about to cough harshly when his free hand clamped her mouth shut in a painful grip. Sakura coughed in his hand, blood spluttering through his fingers, but Sasuke didn't seem to care as he just leaned in without breaking contact. Her vision was already starting to blurry but she managed to blink away the blurredness from her tearful eyes. Who was this man? He really wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke she had been in love with all those years ago, it was…_

_A monster._

_''Poor, poor Haruno Sakura,'' he sneered, venom dripping with such force that she trembled. ''An idiotic girl like you won't ever spark some interest in me. What do you know about love? You can't love someone you don't even understand, stupid girl. It's finally time to end your fucking fantasy. But once again, I'm thanking you for your cooperation.''_

By eliminating Sakura on the spot he will succeed in stopping the other two, eventually escaping them. Haruno Sakura being the only medic in Team 7 skilled enough to heal whatever kind of injury she could be able to heal herself but with this severe injury in her chest, the healing would be quite difficult. Sasuke found himself pleasantly surprised not to care about Sakura's fate; the girl had it coming. Had Kakashi not interfered she would have been long dead – finally dead and not still alive, still hoping and being this annoying. Should he have snapped a little earlier, he would have gone to Naruto and not the pink-haired idiot. But his plan would have eventually backfired as she would have healed the blonde dobe in no time and they would have already been on his heels, as soon as the Jinchuuriki was up on his feet. So _yes_, eliminating Sakura had been the best solution to the problem and since there musn't be any village nearby she would be dead before Kakashi and Naruto could ask for help. And Sasuke may have been an absolute heartless bastard for 'thanking her for being cooperative' but she had been waiting to tell him this for a while, always fidgeting in his presence and under his hard stare. He couldn't have been more lucky. Sakura was too shallow to understand her long-time 'love' and would probably be disgusted by those sides of him – that is, if she survived his Chidori.

_Finally_.

The 'maid' on his back was still stuck in his Tsukuyomi, maybe long brain-dead for all he could care since she wasn't a shinobi and didn't have the basics to break away from a genjutsu. Good, he would be free to slaughter her in the _best_ way she deserved. The mission? None of his business. He had never sworn he wouldn't betray Konohagakure ever again and he never would. Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura had been the stupidest 'teammates' to think that he would accept a life in the village that had the Uchiha clan slaughtered by one of their kin, Senju Tsunade had been foolish and incompetent enough to let him go on a stupid C-rank mission and give him his Sharingan back (it may be half of its power but enough for now). Konohagakure will remain hated by Uchiha Sasuke for having messed up with his family and made them look like traitors. Severing and cutting his bonds off with this village was the best way to remain in the shadows and out of their damn business. Sasuke didn't even want to think about becoming Rokudaime Hokage in this village ever again, he had enough of it. First brought back by this _imbecile_, this blonde loudmouth, then _branded_? Everyone had limits, even Uchiha Sasuke and being branded was the last thing he wanted to be. It had to be removed, one way or another. The seal on his forehead would remain there forever, unless…

_Of course!_ Sasuke almost cursed out loud. There _was _someone who would know about this kind of seal. And the funny thing?

She _also_ happened to be a missing-nin.

* * *

><p>The reason – the <em>only<em> reason – Senju Tsunade hadn't been able to beat the hell out of the two Elders after having heard their words about adding Hyuuga Hinata into their Bingo Book was just because Shizune had burst in her office to tell her that the Hyuuga Council requested a meeting with the Godaime Hokage. She had only taken five minutes to reach her sensei's office but it had been long enough for the Sannin to tear her entire office apart just to reach the two Elder bastards; Tsunade had bee wild and livid, the veins on her forehead testifying her wrath. Even if Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were two of the most powerful shinobis of their village, Tsunade was just as powerful as they were. They would have _barely_ made it alive had Shizune not burst in.

Their decision was everything but _for the good the village_. Was it some kind of sick joke or were the Elders _actually_ thinking about adding an innocent kunoichi into the Bingo Book just because they feared that she must have acted like Uchiha Sasuke did in the past? Hyuuga Hinata was no traitor, had no interest in joining Orochimaru (who had miraculously been resurrected for a reason Tsunade still couldn't stand) to grow stronger or...or anything like that. The Hyuuga clan will scream in outrage if she talked about the rash decision and the nerve of those sons of bitches, there was no doubt that Hyuuga Hanabi – who had been made the heiress after Hinata's 'defection' – would hex Homura and Koharu for even demanding something that insulting.

_''You two are pathetic!'' Tsunade had spat with venom in their faces. ''Why the hell should I comply? Are you scared of something? Hyuuga Hinata isn't Uchiha Sasuke and will never be, for God's sake!''_

Tsunade _swore_ she had seen a slight – almost imperceptible – tremor on Homura's cheek when she had roared that last sentence seconds ago before she had stormed out of her ravaged office but again, her eyes could have played tricks on her.

_'But what if…'_

Those bastards, along with Danzo, had been responsible for orchestring the Uchiha massacre all those years ago, Tsunade hadn't forgotten about this and would gladly chew them about this if they tried to force her to add one of her most trusted kunoichi into the Bingo Book again. Homura and Koharu may resent her for Pein's invasion in their village but in the end they were more guilty than she was and for that, she was sure that their life wouldn't last; it will be a matter of time until the last Uchiha decides to slaughter them. But there was that nagging feeling about Hinata that bothered Tsunade and while she wouldn't admit it to anyone beside Shizune, she was worried and suspicious about the sudden decision of the Elders.

She had eventually exposed her thoughts to Hyuuga Hanabi who, despite her aloof and unnerving attitude, showed intense emotions when Tsunade had evoked Hinata; the girl had looked worried sick about her older sister and completely ready to burst into tears – even though she controlled herself quite well. It took much more self-control to fool the blonde Sannin. Hanabi had wasted no time in gathering the Hyuuga Council, face hardened and typical of the Hyuuga, and had almost immediately summoned a meeting with the Elders. She had to admit that the young girl didn't look someone who had lost her father weeks ago due to his mysterious death and while all the Hyuuga clan was damn good in hiding their emotions behind this emotionless mask, the legendary kunoichi

If there wasn't any bloodshed in the following days, then Tsunade would just have to be patient for it.

* * *

><p><em>Red. Red everywhere around him, reddened snow. Red in the snow. And a white figure spinning around, moving with such grace that it actually looked like a dance. Screams of agony from his men piercing his ears. A woman dancing around, sporting a beautiful smile and eyes devoid of any emotion – an extremely bizarre and disturbing contrast regarding her exotic beauty – while slaughtering his minions.<em>

Blood spluttered out of Taka's mouth as he coughed harshly, his lungs on fire and his head throbbing with one hell of headache. The pain that pinned his body down was unbearable and the man found himself very tempted to howl through this torture. After some minutes of coughing and blood spilling over his chin he slowly opened his eyes, fearing the worst.

Magnificent, white lavender eyes staring right at him were the first thing he saw and that made him gasp in fright and jump. Or so he thought he jumped; trying to move his fingers Taka realized in horror that he couldn't move at all. It was as if his body was completely frozen everywhere it hurt. His blue eyes widened in growing dread as he began to realize that his life might be taken in a few minutes. _Brutally_ taken.

A warm, soft smile adorned the face of the stunning girl before him, which looked disturbing and completely in contrast with those creepy white eyes devoid of any emotion. ''You're awake at last, I was beginning to worry,'' she said in a polite tone. ''We have much to talk about, just you and me. It's no use trying to move, I've blocked all your chakra points for quite a while. In fact, we have _hours_ before us.''

His eyes wandered around him. They weren't outside anymore as the landscape was made of dark walls. A few lights were turned on and the man could vaguely recognize the surroundings as his underground quarters, built under tons of snow to bury himself and work on his experimentations. A sense of slight panic washed over him and he had to swallow a few times to calm down. If they were in his hidden underground quarters then that surely meant she had found...

Taka had to take several deep breaths before addressing her in his hoarse voice. ''What...what have you done?''

The smile remained warm while the eyes remained devoid. ''Oh, I'm sorry.'' Though she didn't even sound sorry at all. ''I forget my manners. Since you're asking me this I shall answer truthfully: I've slaughtered all of your men in this camp, activated all your traps and fooled them in. This has taken me quite a while to count them all but all of them are definitely dead.'' Seeing his horror-stricken look she had the decence to 'look sorry' while smiling. ''But that's not as horrible as you think, compared to what you've been keeping hidden in your lair.''

And then he _felt_ it. It had been kept down or Taka was too stunned to actually feel it but there was an intense killing intent swarming around this female; it was so dark and yet rather hard to notice because of the distraction her smile caused. In his frantic terror he recognized the bocal she was showing him, holding the pair of white eyes so similar to her own. His heartbeat missed a beat before going faster as terror filled him completely and Taka couldn't help but silently wish that the girl would let him go. _Alive_.

''My clan is very protective of its secrets concerning our Byakugan because they fear that if a family member is killed, his eyes will be taken and all its precious secrets about our dojutsu stolen,'' she said casually while looking at the white eyes in the bocal with sorrow on her beautiful face. ''That's why we seal them before dying. But the possibility of some _scum_ taking them even if they are sealed is high and frightening. However, we're not known for hiding because some third-rate psychopath like you steal our secrets – we hunt them down until we have them in our hands and what we do with them...it isn't pretty at all. So my three questions are,'' she ticked off three slender, feminine fingers to emphasize her point. ''_Whose_ Hyuuga these eyes belong to, _why_ did you steal those scrolls and _why_ are you keeping them? I know you're surely aware that you won't last longer than five minutes against me, certainly not without _two arms missing_.''

Hinata would never be able to say where all this confidence came to her but it felt good. So _good_. And it was so good to see this horror-stricken and terror-filled look in the man's eyes that she almost _giggled_ – it would surely have been absolutely weird and insane to giggle over someone in such a horrible state but again, Hyuuga Hinata could no longer call herself sane (the Hyuuga was sure that her sanity had been massacred, torn off her along with Neji and her father). It also felt immensely good to hear his yells of anguish at discovering that his arms were, indeed, missing; there were now two bloody, bandaged stumps and his limbs were currently feeding the rats. Hinata had sliced them off after she had incapacitated him with an axe she had found in the camp, using the bloody battlefield to shed even more blood from the son of bitch who killed a member of her clan.

She might not be sane anymore, but Hyuuga Hinata still could avenge a late Hyuuga by slaughtering the culprit.

Having enough of hearing him scream his head off she backhanded him, effectively cutting him off. She wasn't smiling anymore and her face was frigtheningly blank.

''Is that it?'' Not even waiting for an answer she abruptly leaned in, milky white eyes staring into widened, terror-stricken blue eyes with such force that he couldn't find the will to look away. ''Now _talk_.''

She didn't have to tell him twice. ''_I-I don't know_!'' he managed to scream. ''We found the body like that! It was over twenty years ago w-when my former boss brought it back to Snow Country and said that w-we'll keep his eyes. He never said why we should keep them.''

''You mean he was already dead when you found him?'' She wasn't buying it. And the bastard knew it.

''_Yes_! He told us that Hyuuga eyes have powerful properties that could help us. He said that we would be able to see much further than normal eyes would see, that we could be stronger t-to expand our business!'' He gulped upon seeing the girl leaning in again, her white eyes haunting him. ''H-he told us to keep the eyes in case we'd need other pairs of Hyuuga eyes…''

Dread filled Taka once again as Hinata slowly narrowed her eyes at him and he gasped loudly. ''A-alright!'' he shrieked once again, panicking. ''I'll tell you everything, just don't kill me please!''

That she could promise. But lying was also becoming instinctive to Hyuuga Hinata.

* * *

><p>Hinata found herself hours later staring at the battered, massacred and lifeless body of this Taka man lying in the ground, a thoughtful frown marring her face. She had dragged him away a bit earlier from the town in Snow Country to 'have a last chat' away from the destroyed battlefield (she had deemed necessary to bomb the whole place to cover any marks of her passage and macabre slaughter, it wouldn't be good if anyone from a Hidden Village were to find out. <em>Especially<em> the shinobis from the Hidden Leaf). The fact that she was gripping his decapitated head between her gloved hands wasn't really helping but she didn't even seem to mind. Or notice. She was mulling over the informations that sack of bile had revealed and even failed to acknowledge the crows that had started to gather over the corpse and nibble the fresh flesh.

She looked up at the bright sky, silent. Twenty years ago a member of the Hyuuga clan never returned to Konoha, making everyone who knew him personally worried. She couldn't know because she wasn't born at the time but there was...an intense feeling that made her heart clench at the thought of this Hyuuga member who never came back home. _Sadness_, she realized soon enough. _Sorrow_ and _anger_. Shinobis were made to kill their enemies but when they were the ones massacred because of such petty reason as power, everyone questioned everyone else to know why they existed in the first place. This Hyuuga must have been fulfilling a mission for his village when he had been ambushed and killed and robbed, he might have made enemies during his lifetime but _no one_ could have been that idiotic and suicidal to do that to a member of a clan as important and famous as the Hyuuga. This hunger for power was mind-eating.

She gripped the head a little more tightly between her hands and let out a giggle. ''Hunger and envy,'' she croaked between two giggles. ''I truly don't understand how people like you could disregard someone's life just to obtain power for something as meaningless and worthless as expanding business like…'' More giggles escaped her and she hastily pulled her gloves off to grasp the decapitated head harder, to the point that she could hear the bones crack under the sudden strenght sporting her grip.

Had Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba been here with they would have stared at her with worry in their eyes, wondering if their friend was losing her mind. In her own Hinata was, indeed, losing herself to insanity; the look in her pearly white eyes, her behaviour in front of one of her victims were sufficent to guess her damaged mental state. Half-alking, half-giggling to the beheaded man she told him about how much she wished there wasn't madness in this world, how much she wanted to live peacefully without having to kill anyone, how much she wished this Fourth Shinobi War hadn't taken her brother away, how much she wished that her father hadn't suddenly died in such bizarre circumstances saying her words she had never heard before – _how much she had never wanted to let madness overcome her mind so easily_!

''Do you know how much this killing intent I feel everytime is growing inside of me?!'' Hinata was, at this point, shouting at the head at the top of her lungs with pure hatred visible on her beautiful face, eyes impossibly wide. ''It's constantly growing and I can't do anything to prevent it, to vainquish it! It's gaining power over me, taking over and I just _can't_ have the upper hand against it! I. Just. Can't. Defeat. _That_! And you all…''

She took a time to breathe but it wasn't enough. It just _wasn't_ enough. The death grip she had on the head was straining her hands but she didn't care – her thoughts were rushing in her mind, making sense or not, sane or not, and she couldn't stop that. Once again there were memories of Konohagakure – of her 'friends' – flashing in her mind while all those thoughts were causing an intense headache. There was cheerful laughter and she _swore_ she could hear Uzumaki Naruto's voice right beside her.

_''Guys, let's all have the night to celebrate!'' he had exclaimed, fist pumped in the air and grinning with this ever joyful nature in him._

_She could hear their acceptance, see the genuine smiles on Sakura, Ino and everyone else she knew. Everyone had followed the hero of Konoha. Hinata had tagged along, smiling (but it was another facade). She just went with them because she was still hoping that Naruto would talk to her, comfort her about Neji's death._

_Again there had the bitter, hurtful ignorance._

Her breath hitched in her throat and she felt her chakra flare inside her, unconsciously.

_Days passed, turning to weeks. No Uzumaki Naruto showing at the Hyuuga gates. And there was this loathing silence that Hinata had grown to hate. It was becoming rather...hurtful. If she looked outside with her Byakugan she could see Naruto far away, far away from her and the Hyuuga estate – with Haruno Sakura or Uchiha Sasuke in his cell. But never at her side._

_Not once._

Her nails dug into the skin and actually managed to piece it, digging deep into the skull and shattering it. Hinata's breaths were quickening, as if she was panicking. She either ignored or didn't notice the blood trickling through her fingers. The haunted look in her lavender eyes was slowly turning into one of those maddened looks she was terrorized to see into her reflection.

_He lied. You never came. I was waiting for you. Where have you been? I'm turning invisible again. I wanted you to come to me and talk. Naruto? I'm scared._

_I'm scared...of myself._

_Naruto...my father..._

_Where were you? Where you avoiding me?_

_Where have you been?_

_I don't know what to feel..._

_Where have you been?_

_Something is wrong...with me..._

_Where. Have. You. Been?_

_...Father... Neji..._

And with that, Hyuuga Hinata finally snapped.

The screams that escaped from her mouth were loud, so loud that they must be echoing through the forest. Anguish, anger, resentment, every emotion she had confined deep in her soul and mind were finally coming out of her in those terrible screams. The young Hyuuga was so caught up in her mental breakdown that she never registered herself bringing up a sharp kunai, plunging it into the horror-stricken face that would look like this until decaying, spilling blood all over her pale face and white coat. She drew it back, then plunged it again and stabbed hard with this kunai rendered extremely piercing because of her chakra. The sound of broken bones was awful but never stopped her wild gesture. Again and again, again and _again_. Until there was nothing left but an horribly ravaged, bloodied head with thousands of broken bones. Her body moved on its own towards the headless body and she attacked it with full force, still screaming at the top of her lungs. Her face now marred with madness, Hinata massacred the lifeless body of Taka even more than the others, breaking bones and emitting this dark aura – this growing killing intent she was talking about before her mental breakdown, she was showing it with this pure, authentic savagery that even her innocence and kind nature couldn't beat. She ignored the blood, didn't see the blood, she just wanted to slaughter and let the world hear her out, hear all her damaged mind and soul – hear and watch her mental breakdown like she would have wanted all Konohagakure to watch this because no one noticed through the surface. Not even Kiba and Shino, who had been two of the only ones to see that she wasn't well.

Had this always been buried under her smiles? Under this innocence? The war and Konohagakure had taken everything, leaving Hyuuga Hinata alone and dealing with a kind of grief that had strangled and killed the older Hyuuga Hinata that everyone knew and loved; the Fourth Shinobi War had taken Neji from her and somehow...Konoha had taken her father as well.

_Would someone or something take Hanabi too?_

Because she didn't know _how_ and _when_, but there had been _something_ wrong about Hyuuga Hiashi after the events of the Fourth Shinobi War. Maybe Hanabi and other members of the Main House had taken notice of it and brushed it off but Hinata had been more suspicious: there had been those late excursions out of the Hyuuga estate, when everyone was asleep, with a Hyuuga guard of the Branch House towards a meeting she hadn't heard of. She hadn't told anyone about this because they were all grieving over Neji's loss to the bloody war but there had been a clenching, dreadful feeling about her father and the fact that she couldn't have guessed what it was before he died had triggered something deep in her mind. First _Neji_, then _her father_? Was Hanabi next? There had to be something they had missed – that _she_ had missed – to make her father decide to suddenly die.

What had she missed? What had she not seen?

Why had her father let himself die? Where was the truth?

She didn't know. Couldn't know.

So Hyuuga Hinata kept screaming and stabbing, spilling red in the snow. The world needed to hear her.

* * *

><p>''She's stable. Finally.'' A voice stated.<p>

A tired sigh. ''For how long? She has lost so much blood...''

A terrorized whisper. ''Who...who do you think did _that_ to this girl?''

A tense pause. Then another whisper. ''Who knows.''

* * *

><p>Back in Konohagakure, Tsunade's mug of hot coffee suddenly cracked when she was about to reach it.<p>

Sharp, brown eyes widened at this. _The last time_...the last time this kind of phenomenom happened had been when Sabaku No Gaara had been captured by the Akatsuki and his Tailed Beast taken from him. All hope had seemed to be lost until Chiyo-baasama had decided, in an ultimate act of redemption and love, to save the young Godaime Kazekage by giving him her own life. Not believing in coincidences the Sannin quickly sobered up and stormed towards her door.

''Shizune!'' Tsunade barked as she wrung it open, effectively startling her student. ''Have Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino ready for a retrieval mission right. _Now_!''

She wouldn't tell her student how worried she felt, because that feeling of dread was absolutely nothing compared to the fear that would overthrow her if her hunch wasn't just a hunch. The least she could do right now was wait until Inuzuka and Aburame come back with her..._alive_ and _well_.

Tsunade had only waited for eight minutes before the two shinobis showed up running, confusion clearly visible on their face as they entered the still destroyed office of the Hokage. However their shock was brutally dismissed as the blonde Sannin barked again, not even letting them the time to ask one question.

''Your mission is to bring Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi back in Konohagakure _right now_! I hereby forbid to rest until you found them. Understood?''

Because if she was right about this hunch of hers, then something terrible has once again happened to Team 7 and a certain pink-haired kunoichi.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Will of Namazu**

**Author's note 1:** Have you guys watched the trailer of the new Naruto movie: _The Last_? So beautiful, I love it already. Sasuke's hair have grown and Hinata is just...stunning. Magnificent. Regal. Sasuke and Hinata look gorgeous (and together...meow!).

**A****uthor's note 2:** This time, here's the song of the chapter: **The Crooked Kind** by _Radical Face_. Sasuke and Hinata are taking a very dangerous road that no one else who loved them dearly would try to take, even if it meant having to deal with their growing madness; Hinata has reached such a level of mental breaking point that she is more or less conscious that she will never go back to being the sweet, old Hyuuga Hinata everyone knew. It's very much like Hannibal Lecter – except for the fact that she will never become a cannibal. And there is Sasuke: by now Naruto has finally realized that his friend wouldn't go back to being their teammate and friend (Sakura has also realized that she and Sasuke would never become an item...something that should have been so logical in the manga, _huh_!). So yeah: **The Crooked Kind** will be fine. **Powerless** and **Roads Untraveled** by _Linkin Park_ will come out later.

_You might want to listen to it several times if you want to read the chapter until the end._

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter Five: We Are Powerless<strong>

Why was it so difficult to hold promises you would always have to somehow break? Promises and vows were meant to be taken seriously and held onto no matter what would the consequences be, something that people had a very hard time trying not break down because the sudden realization of not being able to do so was harsh and painful. People like Uzumaki Naruto tend to hold promises to loved ones because of love and honor, or because of their nindo; he, Uzumaki Naruto, had vowed to his teammate Haruno Sakura that he will bring the traitor Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha and had waved off the consequences of such an act could have as an impact on other people. He hadn't ignored his friends's warnings but deep down Naruto had hoped he had kicked some sense in Sasuke's mind and, being the always hopeful person he was, he had seriously believed that their last battle would have changed _everything_.

Upon looking at Sakura's destroyed body on this bed, Naruto was faced with the cold slap of failure. How could he have _believed_ that Sasuke would have agreed? He thought he knew him well enough to believe – to hope that what they had endured during the Fourth Shinobi War would have mattered to him. Even Sakura had been this foolish to feel this hope that Uchiha Sasuke would redeem himself and come back. To them – to _her_.

_Believe_. Sakura looked dead to Naruto. The Chidori Sasuke had impaled her with had done crucial damages to her vital organs, thus threatening her life at any second. Deathly pale and unable to breathe on her own she lay here, body abused and mind absent – also certainly destroyed by the Uchiha, whatever the words he had whispered to her the night he shed her blood. In a foolish and desperate attempt to stray his fearful thoughts about his dying teammate, Naruto found himself snarling at the infuriating and maddening idea to believe that he still should be harboring hope; he would have already berated himself for not being alert around Sasuke and his intentions had he not been given the opportunity to stop him. A blind trust could be so easily fooled – had Sakura been smart for once then maybe, _maybe_, she wouldn't be dying in this bed.

_Could they still believe?_ Fantasies should be broken in the most hurtful way sometimes. If words were most of the time enough to reason someone then why was it _so impossible_ with Sasuke? What did Naruto and Sakura not understand to be taken by surprise by his second betrayal? Nothing made any sense – he didn't understand!

''I..'' Naruto sucked in, eyes glued to his teammate's limp form. The words struggled and tightened into his throat, overwhelming him. What he wanted to say was either going to break him more than he was now or making feel the burning pang of guilt clenching his guts, because he felt like he had failed. He had failed to protect Sakura from him and the only thing he wanted to do right now was cry.

Because he felt so powerless and overwhelmed, Uzumaki Naruto couldn't prevent those silent tears of anguish and guilt from falling on his face. The look in his cerulean eyes was dull and frighteningly lifeless.

''I wasn't alert enough, Sakura-chan,'' he finally drawled lamely.

Of course, there were other words – thousands of words – he would like to say to her but this sight was too much for him to hold back those tears. Saying he was sorry for not being able to protect her from Sasuke's madness wouldn't heal the gaping hole the traitor had created with his Chidori, telling he should have warned her not to try again with Sasuke because he would have hurt her badly enough to make her suffer a painful death wouldn't wake Sakura from her coma – admitting he had been wrong about Sasuke wouldn't make him feel any better because the likelihood of being beaten to death by an irate Godaime Hokage was very high wouldn't even be enough to bring him hope to _believe_.

What was left to believe when your best friend had once again betrayed you?

_There are people who betray their loved ones to obtain anything in exchange of something they must crave about. Greed, desire of revenge, freedom are motivations that blacken anyone's heart and mind to the point they don't even care about other's feelings. Betrayal isn't something you can forgive just because selfishness leads to dangerous paths, it's something that should be forgiven when you seek redemption. But he who doesn't seek redemption is bound to betray._

Uchiha Sasuke had never wanted to come back to Konoha, it was a known fact everyone was aware of and that Uzumaki Naruto had seemed to ignore; if Sasuke betrayed their village it was for the sole purpose to kill the older brother responsible for a massacre organized by someone else. His desire of revenge was amplified and nourished by this need of power he had to obtain in order to avenge his clan but after that task accomplished, would he still have come back to the village? Konohagakure couldn't have given the power to murder Itachi, nobody could match his skills. But then, it was the village that betrayed the Uchiha first long before Itachi and Sasuke could leave and the results were of those manipulations were crushing; being labeled as a traitor towards the village when said traitor had chosen this village over his own family was maddening enough because no one knew the real story until another Uchiha from the past revealed the lies and the conspiracies.

But again, Naruto and Sakura didn't understand. That selfishness about getting Sasuke back with them in the village hadn't been because they could understand what he was going through after listening to Uchiha Madara, it was because they couldn't feel whole when Sasuke was away from them – they just couldn't accept the fact that his hunger could only be satisfied with something that had to be oustide and away from the village but it was all the more...selfish and childish.

The blonde released a shaky sigh. ''And I couldn't do anything…''

_Betrayals weaken the betrayed. Deeply. And when you think you can move on to something else there will always be this numbing, bitter feeling of a wound that would likely never heal._

_But where could you find the strenght to forgive when you can't find the strenght to seek redemption?_

The tears were choking him; they were falling from his eyes and he couldn't stop them – it would be useless to contain such sadness. Looking at her with his blurry eyes he could finally understand Tsunade's words: she had warned him about Sasuke after he had gotten out of his year-imprisonment because she didn't trust him. At all. She had tasted betrayal more than once and suffered from it, having once been teammates and 'friends' with Orochimaru had left scars and deep wounds even time and forgiveness couldn't heal. In his search for power Orochimaru had wandered so far away that he had lost himself, forgotten the meaning of everything the Sandaime Hokage had teached him back when he had been a genin with his former teammates. Jiraiya, Tsunade...he had forsaken them, banished himself from the village that he had wanted to destroy. His bonds with Konohagakure were severed for good and beyond repair – so were Uchiha Sasuke's.

But again, Naruto didn't understand. And he was powerless.

''Why, _Sasuke_…?''

He was so powerless. So _powerless_.

* * *

><p>Outside of the small hospital of the village, screams of anguish and agony could be heard about two or three days later. Since Hatake Kakashi was too quiet of a man to let his emotions blow up, it could only be his former student. It had finally gotten to him…By the time Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and other Chuunins of the Konoha Eleven arrived in the village, they could all hear and listen to those horrible screams from their friend. It could mean nothing but since the Fourth Shinobi War, everyone had learned that <em>no one<em> would scream with such anguish and agony for nothing. And certainly not Uzumaki Naruto. So they had all rushed in. And there the three of them were.

The agony and the pain were unbearable. Defeaning. Excruciating.

He was powerless. They were _all_ powerless, reconizing it was painful. And it would seem that Haruno Sakura's Will of Fire had finally extinguished.

* * *

><p>Weeks – or months – passed rather quickly for Hyuuga Hinata and the rainy weather left to welcome the chilly wind and white snow of December. The roads were now all covered and completely white. Tea Country may be peaceful and its inhabitants laughing merrily because all torment was mostly gone but no one should be fooled; this peace was preferable since the Shinobi Alliance from all shinobi villages made it liveable and happiness could finally be cherished and enjoyed by families who had seen too much blood. There were children playing in the snow, building snowmen and laughing, laughing together. Not far from them were their parents, chatting and sometimes looking at their children with smiles on their faces. Hinata herself would have smiled genuily at such a sight.<p>

Her old personality, if she were to be precise.

There was still too much in her mind to allow herself to open up; the last couple of months she had spent had been filled with intense training with the three scrolls she had taken from Taka of Snow Country. To say that she had been surprised to discover the content of those scrolls was an understatement – who was expecting such secret and dark techniques from a clan like hers? Two of those scrolls described dark techniques and other forms of the Byakugan that Hinata had never heard of. They required an excellent control of a Hyuuga's chakra and stamina, which Hinata terribly lacked. Strangely eager and ever patient to learn how to use those jutsus, Hinata had isolated herself many times in some caverns and forests to train with the two first scrolls, stopping when – and only when – she had felt so close to lose consciousness. But there had been times when she had quickly left a place not to attract suspiciousness; she may be growing paranoid but she sometimes had felt followed by someone.

Hinata's Byakugan had improved during those intensive months of training in such way that her dojutsu had almost consumated most of her chakra the first time, thus obliging her to sleep over two days to recover completely and replenish her chakra reserves. She knew little about her bloodline limit improvement and how it could become stronger thorough rough training, her father had never explained if there had been any other form of the Byakugan registered in the Hyuuga clan (and if there had been any other form, every member of the clan would have known about it and tried to achieve it to honour the Hyuuga nindo). Her taijutsu, which was solid and graceful yet deadly and fluid, had become harder and more violent than ever – she had never been faster or stronger than her late cousin and her little sister before but _damn_, those scrolls held such powerful Hyuuga techniques! The results had been pleasantly satisfying after she had broken the trunk of a tree with a new technique of the Gentle Fist and that had made her smile in glee. With those techniques she had also trained to move and fight under this harsh weather; she had built up her stamina and stealth to move quicker on top of the snow-covered ground, using the wind as support. Hinata had been pleasantly surprised to discover, after having mastered three particularly, extremely dangerous techniques, that her eyes could now see over thousands and thousands of miles away with such acute vision that it had almost made her squeal in delight.

''Nothing can't escape my sight,'' she had murmured one chilly night in a cavern, hidden from sight.

The third and last scroll had been the one to surprise her the most; while it certainly looked like any Hyuuga scroll Hinata had seen there was something that spiked her curiosity upon looking at the content. It was a summoning scroll.

But not just any summoning scroll which could bind a shinobi to any animal like a snake, a slug or a toad – the one Hinata had been looking at was rare and strange because it described a contract with a mysterious race of tigers that was supposed to have disappeared very long ago. And what was more disturbing was the fact that it happened to belong once to a Hyuuga and Hinata couldn't know who he really was. The little information she got from her research on each member of the clan wasn't enough to determine which one had disappeared years ago, the only to find more resources would be to go back – which would never happen if Hinata were to be in a very unstable state to 'snap' at the first Hyuuga she would see and with those techniques she had just mastered, the results would be bloody. There would be a high chance to become a criminal for murdering a clan member and being added to the Bingo Book wouldn't raise her chances of finding what she was looking for.

Now Hinata hadn't truly give a damn of the mess she must have created with her departure months ago. However, she suspected that someone must have thrown a fit – beside the Hyuuga Elders she would love to slice in half until the last one – and bitched about it to the Hokage; if her father was still alive, he likely would have made something. The idea of disowning her flashed first into her mind but the last events that had taken place after the Fourth Shinobi War made her think twice. Would he have disowned her, even after having seen her so brave and strong during this war? The answer would be a no because in her late father's eyes had shone what she had been craving to see – pride. But if the Hyuuga were only a part of the problem, there still was Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino: Hinata knew them enough to guess that they must have haunted Tsunade to let them chase their missing teammate for days, weeks, but the proud and strong-headed woman the Godaime Hokage was musn't have given up. She must have stayed true to her word. Kiba and Shino were stubborn, as stubborn as Hinata was, but leaving on their own would mean punishment. Being added into the Bingo Book. Being labeled as a missing-nin. And she knew that Tsunade must have warned everyone about the situation – especially Uzumaki Naruto.

It had been months since she last thought about him. Hinata had busied herself with this training she had begun first with the Hyuuga scrolls (the Elders must have discovered the theft by now and must have been foaming at the mouth – something she would have killed to see just to taunt them), all thoughts relied to Konohagakure banished from her mind so she could work at peace. The dead last was everything Hinata was starting to resent and the less she thought about him and Konoha, the more her mind found itself at peace. What was more disturbing was the fact that Naruto was sometimes the reason her mental breakdowns happened; the last one in Snow Country had been the turning-point of her exile.

The bonds needed to be severed, cut. _Destroyed for good_.

Her white eyes narrowed slightly at the summoning scroll on her hands. She had never signed a contract with any kind of summon like some of her friends because her father had said, while adorning a sort of disgusted face, that 'Hyuuga don't fight with summons, we don't need them'. The scorn she had heard from his mouth had surprised her at first – years ago she had been startled to hear that from him but now it just made her grit her teeth in irritation. Having recovered the scrolls that had disappeared years ago from those thieves in Snow Country, Hinata was thinking of signing this contract and binding herself to these tigers. And the only thing to do in order to see how they looked like was this contract and her blood.

_A summon might be good. Very good._

A cracking sound on her left resonated in the silent room. Already knowing what it could be she slowly turned her head, face devoid of emotions and eyes just as expressionless.

The mug of hot chocolate, on the table, was shattered.

How interesting! Hinata had heard about bad omen and things that could happen right after they manifested – the Godaime Kazekage's abduction by the Akatsuki was one of those infamous omen and...it would have ended in his death had the Elder Chiyo not sacrificed herself for him. Had something happened in _Konohagakure again_? To Konohagakure again? Had Uchiha Sasuke finally snapped with all this peace around him in the village that had his whole family slaughtered and killed a Konoha shinobi?

_They had it coming._ Hinata had never agreed to Sasuke's return in the village after the Fourth Shinobi War and she knew that many had shared her thoughts but when it came to Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura, all his crimes must be cast in the past so he could come back to Konoha – to them. If she had thought it was just the strenght of their bond that made Naruto and Sakura stand up for him, now she couldn't help but think that the two of them had been selfish about their teammate. Selfish and uncaring about his state of mind and real motivations (those two fools, did they really think that Uchiha Sasuke would have agreed to come back without having a twisted and dark back up plan? Hinata may not know him but ever since she had left the village months ago, she had this feeling that she would see him again someday. With or without Naruto and Sakura.). Naruto had made a promise to Sakura years ago that he would bring his 'best friend' back no matter and this girl had done _nothing_ but rely on him as a crutch, crying and mulling over her past memories about Team 7. Because she couldn't have prevented her crush from leaving the village – leaving _her_ – and openly exposed her selfishness to him, Hinata truly surprised herself by finding Haruno Sakura vain and useless. Despising.

And because the pink-haired idiot never stopped hoping and believing instead of moving on, Hinata couldn't really call her a 'friend' of hers – not even an acquaintance. She merely was a comrade – a commoner. It was as simple as that.

She opened the summoning scroll and read it with care and attention. It was no copy – this was a real summoning contract. A small smile playing on her soft, luscious lips, she took a kunai and pricked her finger with to sign her name on the thin, precious paper.

* * *

><p>The Hyuuga was absolutely not easy to find.<p>

Sasuke had grudgingly admitted that she hid herself very well. She was like smoke in the air – a ghost, he had hissed angrily. He had almost feared at first that she had been killed when he began chasing her but there had been faint, almost inexistent traces of her chakra signature in the places she might have gone – he had cracked a smirk upon secretly praising her uncanny ability to disappear into thin air. Only the elite shinobi could disappear like this and Sasuke himself had taken time to learn to do something like this during his time with the Sannin. Hyuuga Hinata was never near her cousin's level; the fact that she had pathetically lost to him during the Chuunin Exams had been proof of that but the way she took care of covering her traces was…

_Amazing. You're finally showing yourself, Hyuuga._

Six months ago Sasuke encountered a bloody mangled mess in Snow Country, where he and Team 7 were supposed to retrieve three scrolls. The robbers's camp was located behind snowy hills, exactly where the spy's memory in the Shion family had revealed to him. But when he got there, only frosted blood, many bloodied corpses and the agonizing smell of death welcomed him. The whole camp had been destroyed and everyone in here had been brutally slaughtered – obviously a shinobi and if he hadn't sensed and recognized her chakra signature, he wouldn't have thought she was the assassin. Of course, the scrolls weren't there. Sasuke wasn't a stranger to assassination, he had quite a long list of crimes he was guilty of and the most recent had concerned a certain kunoichi (He had learned that he was once again in the Bingo Book of Konohagakure due to his latest crime and the Uchiha, having made sure that no one would chase him for quite a long time, had finally settled in remaining a lone wolf). But Hyuuga Hinata? The woman was far too gentle and kind-hearted to do something so...horrible and insensitive. It was the savage yet precise work of someone who musn't have been in a sane state of mind, someone who must have been in an extremely volatile mood to do so. Another beheaded corpse had welcomed his sight, head and body stabbed so many times that it was completely impossible to make a face of that dead person. There was no mistake: Hyuuga Hinata had done all this.

The scene was so grotesque and macabre that Sasuke couldn't help but feel strangely drawn to this; ever since he had been the student of Orochimaru he had felt himself change deeply, from the tolerant and angry kid of Konohagakure to this deadly, apathetic young man who showed nothing but coldness and impassiveness, he had suppressed all feelings and emotions from his mind, slipping them into a dark, impenetrable mental fortress of his palace of memory. He remembered looking as emotionless when he ran into his former teammates at Orochimaru's hideout, emotionless and aloof. He also remembered looking impassive when he was about to sink his katana into Naruto's back. And he had looked uncaring as he disposed of Haruno Sakura the night he disappeared.

Dark obsidian eyes looked around in wonder. The snow surrounding him couldn't block his senses but the cold was starting to annoy him at best; Sasuke had liked snow when he had been an innocent child with a family and his older brother, he would play in their large yard and throw multiple snowballs in failing attemps to hit Itachi. He remembered his brother's smile, so sincere and full of mischief. The Uchiha lightly scowled. Remembering memories wasn't very well suited during such familiar times; being a missing-nin added into the Bingo Book of Konohagakure once again made his plans more complicated. The buffoon Naruto was had been allowed to chase after the latest events that shook the village months ago, emotions swirling inside his mind and clouding his judgement. If Sasuke were to cross paths with him again, there will be blood. Again.

Sasuke turned around and narrowed his black eyes. He had been following the Hyuuga's trail for months, wandering in places she might have been and places where people were sure they had seen her – he had presumed she must have covered herself to remain mysterious. She had been smart to hide her white eyes among unknown people she couldn't and shouldn't trust so easily. There may be peace but a lone wolf knew he should always be on edge. And now he felt closer to her: the Hyuuga had sensed his presence more than once and fled quickly every time he had been this close to reach her. But now…

_She's here._

There was a village right ahead. No chakra signature could be sensed but his guts told him that she _was_ here; silent as a shadow he entered the village, his hood securely wrapped around his head to hide his origins. The inhabitants, usually suspicious about strangers entering their home, didn't glance at him – mainly because he was too fast for them to catch a glimpse of his form. There was no time to waste in frolicking around and he had to find his target, convince her to remove this damn seal on his forehead (which was certainly going to take time and energy to do so if she was in a very hostile mood. It had been months but he was sure she must have trained a lot during this exile of hers.) and…

His elegant eyebrows furrowed slightly in wonder. What would he do after that? He could go back to being a traveler, wandering around the Shinobi World and avoiding the Hidden Villages because of his renewed status of missing-nin and traitor to the Leaf and _this_ status that must finally have made Uzumaki Naruto hate him. The Uchiha, an extremely dangerous rogue shinobi that had no qualms killing anyone who stood in his way, had become a target to kill on the spot should he be sensed nearby. He will be ready to welcome his pursuers with his katana and Kekkei Genkai at its full power.

He halted in his steps and turned sharply on his right, obsidian eyes narrowing, and he sidestepped quickly on his feet to avoid three chakra infused arrows that would have ruthlessly pierced his head had he not sensed them in time. The lethal weapons whizzed by his ear and they embedded deeply into the tree behind him, shattering the trunk where little bits of piece crumbled onto the snow.

_What the…_

That's when he saw her. She was standing in the snow, wearing a pure white coat to protect herself from the biting cold. She was holding a giant, majestic bow – with which she had fired her arrows with such accuracy – and her quiver in her back was full of arrows. Sasuke seized her silently up and down. Her hair seemed longer and flew around her in the gentle breeze but what really spiked his curiosity was the way she looked right now; he could see the years of nobility flowing out of her as a halo around her and as she stood before him, the Uchiha couldn't help but admire the graceful yet solid stance she took in his vicinity. Her eyes were closed and the absence of veins on her temples confirmed that she had shot without using the Byakugan to target him. He smirked behind his collar. The Hyuuga had really grown during these past months, he thought. Very few people could do that, even through rough training.

There was a light frown on her beautiful face but she didn't look angry. A good sign.

''You've been chasing me for months,'' she started – without stuttering, he noticed. Her voice was as soft as he could remember but there was a firm confidence behind those words, which quite pleased him. ''Mind if I ask you why you're so persistent in hunting me down?''

''Hello, _Hyuuga_,'' Sasuke drew sarcastically, his smirk still in place. ''This is some business we should attend in somewhere private where no one would listen to some...disturbing informations. I haven't come here after all this time just to kill you, it's just pointless. Besides, I'm not a Konoha shinobi anymore.''

''Should I be surprised, Uchiha?''

''Not really, but I bet you're curious about it.''

Her frown deepened. But her white eyes remained closed and her hold on her deadly bow never loosened. Sasuke chose another way to approach the suspicious and alert Hyuuga.

''Why would I lie about this when it's evident I would have betrayed this damn village once again?'' he continued, his voice cold. ''Konohagakure may have been my home years ago but tell me, would I have stayed in the village that I intended to destroy when I discovered the truth about the demise of my clan? They betrayed my clan first, it's just a counter-attack against their manipulations.''

Hinata was before him in less than a second, an arrow lightly pressed against his throat. The hold was firm and confident. His charcoal eyes widened very slightly showing his astonishment but his face regained his impassiveness quickly, as if he had never showed any emotion at her speed. Sasuke could smell a faint but present smell of lavender mixed with chocolate on her, a sweet scent that would enthrall every man (And he would never admit that his target looked delicious in this coat and landscape. Never.) and himself if there wasn't this business of blocking seal on his forehead that prevented him from using his full Kekkei Genkai to take care of. Because really: Hyuuga Hinata was a stunning sight to behold, enthralling to his eyes.

She slowly leaned in, whispering to his ears only.

''Did you kill someone? From Konohagakure no Sato?''

His smirk only widened and even if she had her eyes closed, he knew she sensed it because she sighed.

''You wreak havoc everywhere you go, Uchiha,'' she said with bitterness in her tone.

''What about the mangled mess you've left behind in Snow Country?'' he countered smoothly. She didn't flinch but her luscious lips quirked. ''I saw what you did. Impressive, Hyuuga. I didn't know you had this savagery in you. You should know that if Konoha hears about it and discovers you're the one who did that, you'll be hunted and certainly killed on the spot after having been added into their Bingo Book?''

To his surprise she smiled, a beautiful smile that would have conquered any idiot if it wasn't for that ominous and dark killing intent floating in the air – around her. Who would have thought that Hyuuga Hinata would become like this? Naruto wouldn't have (The buffoon would be the last one to notice some disturbing changes in his surroundings.) and Sasuke found himself curious about her new abilities. What else could she do with this newfound savagery and these skills?

''Come inside. It seems we have much to discuss,'' she finally said.

She gracefully turned on her heels to head back towards the inn she must be residing in once she had recovered the three arrows on the tree. There was this way she handled herself with grace and composure that looked appealing even though Sasuke remained emotionless, because letting anyone feel this kind of killing intent while smiling innocently was something so skillful yet greatly disturbing and coming from someone like Hyuuga Hinata, it was…

_How much has she improved? To the point to actually think and interact as a ruthless assassin with mental issues?_

Sasuke could definitely find this side of her. For what he still didn't know. But still: she had become the kind of companion that would have no qualms in killing when the situation deemed it necessary, she was psychologically fit to become an ally. And even if he craved the loneliness, Sasuke wouldn't really mind if the Hyuuga was to travel with him to avoid being captured by Leaf shinobis just like him. The news he harbored from his sources should be enough to help her make her mind.

His steps were silent as he followed after her.

* * *

><p>''...you killed Haruno Sakura?'' Her face might not show any horror or terror but her tone was of someone who was highly curious; her lavender eyes remained stubbornly closed and a light frown marred her face. She was painfully and surprisingly calm about the whole ordeal. ''Really? Why?''<p>

''Are you scared?'' His tone was mocking.

A soft smile. ''What were your reasons?''

Sasuke wiped the sarcastic smirk from his face and crossed his arms, staring at the woman sitting accross him. ''She was becoming once again the burden she had always been during our time as genins. After the Fourth Shinobi War the Elders had me imprisoned for my crimes, you already know that. I should have died for what I've done and I was completely ready for it but _those two_ — (**This term has been removed for your sanity**.) had to bend their necks forward and beg for mercy.''

She sipped her hot chocolate. ''You sound so...angry. Angry at them. Uzumaki Naruto made a promise to Sakura years ago, so he fulfilled it.''

He snorted in scorn. ''I had a goal back then – hell, everyone had one at the Academy! Killing Itachi for murdering our clan had been this first main goal to accomplish and I wanted to do it _alone_. What _those two_ — (**This term has been removed for your sanity**.) didn't understand and never understood on this day was that nothing in Konohagakure no Sato would have given me the strenght to defeat Itachi. Nothing and no one. Kakashi was defeated by Itachi so easily with his Mangekyou Sharingan that it left me no choice but to find Orochimaru. Only him would have given me the power I needed to kill my brother – only him.'' He scowled darkly and murderously upon remembering Sakura's futile attempt to keep him from leaving the village and Orochimaru's purpose to possess his body. ''This promise of Naruto's you speak about, bringing me back into the village…'' He didn't finish his sentence, merely let his words die in his throat.

''From what he told me years ago he vowed to bring you back because he…'' Hinata pursed her lips, carefully choosing her words. ''I think it was mainly because he had wanted to gain Haruno Sakura's recognition first – _at first_, I said,'' she repeated, upon sensing Sasuke's glare on her. ''Remember those days when all girls from and outside the Academy used to like a lot because you were an Uchiha and good-looking? Uzumaki Naruto had always been jealous of you. And he wanted it to change because he was infatuated with Haruno Sakura. So this promise...and also because you were his first friend to accept him even though he was the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed.'' There was a small pause. ''But I can't help but think they were a bit selfish on their part. Selfish and childish.''

Oh? Now that interested him. ''Pray tell, share your thoughts with me.''

''And you will tell me why you've been seeking me?''

Sasuke smirked in amusement. ''Ever so blunt, Hyuuga? I may be a traitor but hardly a liar.'' Which was half-true. Sasuke may lie about a lot of things in life but never about himself. Sitting with the Hyuuga while they were in this situation and speaking the truth was better than lying. ''Go on. I'll tell you why I've been hunting you down.''

_Humour me, Hyuuga._

She took the time to sip her drink and mull over her words for a few seconds before continuing, eyes closed. ''For all those years I watched Uzumaki Naruto before and after your...departure from the village. My infatuation with him became clear when I discovered how determinated and strong-willed he was, no matter how much Konohagakure crushed him with hatred and indifference, he never wanted to give up and strove to become recognized as what he could be later. He was scorned, called a monster for some reason he couldn't know, but he had never given up. And one day he met you, Uchiha Sasuke. And you became sort of friends but for him, you were special. His best friend, the first one to acknowledge you as his equal and human being.'' She never saw him tense up on his seat. ''From this moment you found a special spot in his heart and if you know and understand Uzumaki Naruto, you should know that even if you swore never to come back in the village that betrayed your family he would never give up on you. Many would say that his sense of friendship blinds him, prevents him from accepting the truth and the fact that you'll always harbor intense hatred towards Konohagakure, others would think that his faith is too strong to fade and would help him becoming stronger. But…''

''You think he and Sakura were stupid to think that I would willingly come back without having a back up plan,'' he finished for her. ''You think they should have stopped believing.''

This time, there was a smile growing on her lips and she nodded.

''They were your teammates but...I think they should have stopped hoping,'' she stated softly. ''Especially Haruno Sakura. Didn't you try to kill her once?'' Sasuke made a sound to voice his answer. ''Then my guess is that your reasons to kill her may be because she and Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't have let you go. They would have refused and not understood, dragged you back selfishly into some place hated by your guts. In the end you would have snapped. They were in the way – _she_ was in the way, always the one trying to stop you from stepping further in your goal. You said she never wanted you to join Orochimaru? Hm…''

His fingers were beginning to dig into the armchairs. What she – what the Hyuuga was saying...he had never interacted with her before but would have never thought to be _so observant_. She noticed all this by watching them?

''What do you think, Uchiha? Was it selfish of her to try and prevent you from leaving the village – her?''

''Yes,'' he answered through gritted teeth. ''I was being selfish too but my reasons were completely honest: Konoha didn't have the instructors with skills matching Itachi's, no one would have succeeded in helping me becoming stronger. What were Sakura's reasons to preventing me from leaving and Naruto's for trying to bring me back? She never wanted me to leave her and, in the last and most pathetic attempt to stop me, confessed her 'love'.'' He snorted scornfully at that. ''She thought she mattered enough to me not to leave her behind.''

Hinata tilted her head. ''Did she, Uchiha?'' _And don't lie. _

Sasuke took his time to answer. Had Sakura ever mattered to him? It was a tricky question if one would reconstruct his path from the beginning until now. If he remembered his previous life as Konoha shinobi and a member of Team 7 there were memories of missions with his teammates and their sensei, where Sakura would do nothing but act as one of his annoying fan-girls. Besides him and Naruto she could barely handle herself during their missions, always cowering behind and watching fearfully. Weak and annoying – worthless.

She had mattered. _But she had always tried to stand in my way._

''To some extent she did matter to me because she was a teammate and only a teammate. I held no interest in her – none. She was a sort of friend. And she —''

His black eyes narrowed slightly. He scowled and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. The Hyuuga was stalling.

''As a friend you should understand what your friend lacks and needs in his life,'' the Uchiha said. ''Sakura never understood this need of mines to become stronger even if it meant leaving the village and join sides with a traitor, she had always thought about her feelings and not mines. _Always her_.'' He had almost spat with disgust. ''_Yes_, I killed Haruno Sakura months ago. _No_, I have no regrets whatsoever in having done so. Happy?''

Silence met his answer but he knew she was content with that. The Hyuuga Hinata he had known back when they were all genins would have fidgeted, cowered and probably cried for Sakura but _this one_ in front of him was indeniably different. In disturbing ways. The meek, mousy girl from their early years would have this annoying habit to stutter and shy away from everyone. It had been exasperating as hell. She would have blushed upon talking about Naruto, her obvious crush. And yet this Hyuuga – _this_ Hyuuga Hinata from these past months, the one that had so horribly slaughtered an entire camp of trap masters and a beheaded corpse, had become more interesting than ever. In disturbing ways he would describe as strange.

Of course, there were her mental issues. Sasuke was ready to bet that the Fourth Shinobi War had terrible consequences on her mind and soul; what a war could do to someone scarred the person for life and those who are capable of enduring the deaths and aftermath are so few, so rare. Post-war consequences could become lethal for someone as gentle and kind as Hyuuga Hinata, so lethal that it could lead her to madness. And...he frowned upon remembering something about her family the dead last told him months ago.

''What happened to your father?'' he asked.

He saw it. This calm expression on her stunning face has just become disturbingly blank, her body has frozen after listening to his question. All of sudden the atmosphere seemed to change drastically, becoming so cold and ominous. Her fingers gripped the mug so tightly that he could swear it would break in her hold. For the first time she opened her eyes to look at him and Sasuke was almost startled to decipher the emotions swirling in those white orbs. Dark emotions he had felt during the years of his hunt: desire to kill, to express a growing madness and unleash it on whoever crossed her way. It was a sensation so enormous and threatening.

_There it is, that dark aura around her…_

''Uchiha...I have no idea how my father died.''

It surrounded her petite form as a sickening, defensive halo. _Sickening_.

''What's stranger is the fact that everyone in the Hyuuga clan seemed to think this sudden death as… _natural_!'' she spat the word with venom while harboring this smile, contrasting with this dark aura she was emitting. ''How could a healthy and strong-willed clan head like Hyuuga Hiashi could suddenly die after the war? There wasn't life-threatening injury on him so he was fine – _he was fine_ _for Kami's sake_! So yes, what _happened_ to him?''

It surrounded the whole room. _Choking_.

''I'll find out how and why,'' the woman said, still smiling. She set her cup on the low table between them and stood up, uncrossing her long, slender legs out of her. ''And if I have to be labeled as a traitor...then so be it. Now tell me why you're here.''

Her words were sincere. This newfound confidence of hers would have been so pleasant in her earlier years but her performance during this war had changed his opinion about her. She was clearly implying that she would dispose of anyone who would stand in her way – if she still could make the difference between friends and enemies he wouldn't know, but her new state of mind attracted Sasuke like a moth to a light. If only he could make her become an ally…

The Uchiha brought his hands to unfold the bandages around his forehead and allowed her white eyes to look at the seal. She blinked once and leaned in slightly to have a better look at the ugly, bothering thing.

''Ah. This one is similar to the Hyuuga Seal used to protect our Byakugan,'' she said after a complete minute of inspection and reflexion. ''They put it in order to prevent you from using your Sharingan and Rinnegan to their full power, am I right?''

''Hn,'' he responded, watching her gestures intensely.

''I've made countless of research to see if there is a way to break through the Hyuuga Seal and others right after the war,'' she revealed as she crossed her arms against her ample chest, looking thoughtful. ''Changing the Hyuuga had been my dream but all these events have foiled my plans. Whatever. Those research were time-consuming but useful.''

''Any success?'' Sasuke tried very hard to contain his eagerness.

She smiled. And nooded. He smirked.

_Now we're getting somewhere._

* * *

><p>Because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless to prevent Uchiha Sasuke to leave and betray them, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless to see past his stubborness, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and clueless to accept the facts that his 'best friend' would never come back to a village that had his clan murdered by his own brother, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and too caught up in his determination to protect everyone, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and too concentrated on fulfilling his vow to bring Sasuke back to Konohagakure, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and idiot enough to believe that he would find peace and start a new life with them, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and too caught up with trying to renew his bonds with his 'best friend', because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and too much of a coward to see that he was hurting his friend Hyuuga Hinata, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and too trusting to think that Sasuke would never hurt Sakura again after their last battle, because Uzumaki Naruto had been powerless and too blind to believe and hope, he had let all this happen to him and the village.<p>

And Sakura.

All this because he had wanted to believe and hope it was possible to reconstruct themselves together.

_'Poor, poor Uzumaki Naruto. A buffoon like you wouldn't understand.'_

Because he had wanted to believe. And hope.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Will of Namazu**

**Author's Note 1:** ...hm. OK, got a lot of swearing from Uchiha Sasuke but what did you expect? I once again thank my new readers for adding **A Will of Namazu** to their favorite lists and following lists, it means a lot to me even if you don't review. So here's the chapter's song: **Crawling** by_ Linkin Park _(**You might want to listen to the song again if you want to finish this chapter.**) and be prepared.

On with the sixth chapter. :)

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter Six: Of Requiems &amp; Screams<strong>

''I heard the Uzumaki boy hasn't left his apartment ever since this tragedy —''

''Yes. Do you think he's coping well with —''

''He shouldn't have trusted the traitor. He really shouldn't have —''

''A friendship like theirs couldn't have lasted that long. And even if he helped us win the war —''

There were whispers nobody would like to hear or overhear – these kinds of whisper in the streets while you're walking to clear your mind do nothing but crush anything you've tried to shield behind mental walls. If you were someone like Uzumaki Naruto, who had been verbally and physically abused during most of his childhood because he was the host of a monster that had scarred their village years ago, you would have snapped rather violently to all those whisperers and told them to screw off (**Violent terms would be removed to perpetuate your sanity, of course**.) because the heavy weight of guilt and realization was even more unbearable for you.

_Trust and believe_. The hero of Konoha had only wanted this, to trust and believe that anything he would forever have his friends and teammates with him no matter what. Friendship had a sense he had hardened with steel and will and vows at the moment he met his first friend; Uchiha Sasuke had just lost his whole family and was still grieving this great loss when Naruto had found him alone by the river, looking forlornly at the water. They had had something in common when they had shaken hands to form this bond: their pains may not be related at all but there had been a connection because they had been two little boys hurting and desperate for a reason to believe and trust someone who could apease, if only slightly, this pain that could swallow them. Naruto and Sasuke had found each other and while the latter would have been in denial about this friendship, the Jinchuuriki had trusted and believed him – believed _in_ him.

_There are scars that even time can't heal, for they will remain deep and painful._

_If time can't heal scars of betrayal then what could?_

If you were someone like Senju Tsunade who had yet to realize the atrocity of her mistake you would be doing something to vent out the frustration and sickening emotions bubbling up your chest and mind. What a Kage must be prepared for is anything of any kind, from an invasion to the murder of a comrade. If said comrade is one of your best and cherished students then the guilt is beyond unbearable. Tsunade had always been scorned by the Elders of the Konoha Council for her decisions and her brash nature – which didn't match with her being the Hokage – and though she had done her best to protect the civilians of the village during dark times, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura would never change their opinion.

The news of the mangled mess done by the defective Hyuuga Hinata had hit the Council with such force that their angry screams had been heard in the whole building and – if anyone needed to confirm that Tsunade must have screamed in outrage too – even the walls of the Hokage Tower had trembled. There had been a very long debate on the possibilities of Hyuuga Hinata's involvement in the massacre that happened months ago in Snow Country which, ironically, had happened to be the mission Team 7 was supposed to accomplish and it had been a complete failure due to Uchiha Sasuke's second deflection and betrayal to the village. In retaliation of Tsunade's abhorrent foolishness and the disaster that had issued the Council had demanded her resignation (under the influence of two ancient sacks of bile named Koharu and Homura) and elected a new Hokage, outnumbering the Senju and shutting her up from further meetings. _This_ had been the tortuous beginning of a wave of re-ignited tension in Konohagakure no Sato and the Hyuuga Clan had also added their discontent and outrage into this hellish situation that had befallen on them like a hammer.

Senju Tsunade wasn't someone you could just step on without suffering severe and painful consequences; being one of the Sannin and a fearsome kunoichi with the worst temper ever, she was skilled in using brash words and her unnatural strenght to dissuade those who dared to challenge her (which always results in broken walls or crushed desks, a _'Shizune! Bring me a new desk quickly – and a bottle of saké!'_ yelled with force vibrating from her.). But those who really knew this woman should know better on the inside because everyone had different ways of hiding their pain and loss under carefully kept emotions, excessive drinking or…

Screaming. Or requiems for the young one who had left this world by the hands of her loved one.

When her little brother and fiancé died Tsunade's screams of anguish and sadness were either muffled in her pillows or loud in her house, loud as if they should shake the world. Her own had shattered and vanished as soon as her mind assessed their deaths, Kami being the only one to know how she had managed not to suffer psychological problems due to those terrible losses. Her long exile in the Shinobi World had brought her a sort of peace within her mind for a time before she was found by an old friend – still highly perverted and writing porn for all she could care – and a goof wearing a ridiculous orange jumpsuit, all those events followed by a battle with Orochimaru to her election as Godaime Hokage. There had been times when Tsunade had not thought about Konohagakure and all those problems that had plagued her until she finally snapped, precious times when her dreams hadn't been bothered by gruesome nightmares in blood and the faces of her dead loved ones. And they were gone for a time when she had become Hokage, encouraged by Jirayia and Naruto.

The shock she had felt upon seeing Haruno Sakura's destroyed body had been this powerful that she had to lean on Shizune for help because her body had suddenly gone numb. Her brown eyes, that had always bored authority and confidence and such strenght, had looked beyond horrified and devastated.

* * *

><p><em>''Come on Sakura, come on!'' Tsunade growled. Her hands were glowing green on Sakura's heavily burned chest. ''This isn't your time yet, you still have other things to achieve in this world!''<em>

_Had she given up already when Uchiha Sasuke gave her his ultimate farewell in this Chidori? Had she given up?_

* * *

><p><em>''Tsunade-sama,'' Yamanaka Ino's voice was barely a whisper but the Sannin heard her. It held the despair she stubbornly refused to accept in her mind, in her heart. She kept trying to heal her student, tiring her chakra reserves to the point she would be on the verge of fainting of exertion.<em>

_There was no resignation in Senju Tsunade's eyes as she kept healing Haruno Sakura's body – trying, indeed. Why should accept defeat this third time? Her fiancé and younger brother couldn't have been saved and had eventually given up trying to remain alive (not that death gave shinobis any choice whether it was their time or not.). But Sakura wasn't ready to die yet – that brilliant kunoichi wasn't ready to give up!_

_''Tsunade-sama… we —we've been here for eighteen hours a-and still…''_

_The words died out in Ino's throat as she swallowed a sob. But she didn't have to finish this sentence._

_Still nothing. Haruno Sakura's Will of Fire had extinguished and Tsunade wouldn't accept it – couldn't accept it. Her own Will of Fire was still burning inside her and by the gods, she will try until her death._

* * *

><p>A wild, sorrowful scream echoed somewhere off in the distance, full of despair and deep sadness. Tsunade flinched visibly and clutched her eyes shut in anguish, teeth painfully grounded together. The nurse, who was checking on the Sannin for any disturbance in her body, let out a wavering whimper and started trembling upon watching the blonde woman in her bed. She was crying openly and without any shame. Somehow, Uzumaki Naruto's own mental state reached everyone – especially the former Hokage who was cracking up again. <em>Yes<em>, again.

She was right to show her emotions. Everyone could be weak, even the powerful ones.

''Tsunade-sama…'' the young nurse whispered sympathetically.

* * *

><p><em>Her body slumped heavily on the floor, agitated by violent spasms and gasps.<em>

_''Tsunade-sama!'' Shizune rushed to her side immediately, worry written over her soft features. ''Tsunade-sama, you can't go on like this and kill yourself! She's already —''_

_This wasn't what she needed to hear right now. ''NO!'' the blonde wheezed out, coughing rather badly. ''No, we… harder! We have to try…''_

_''Tsunade…'' There were tears starting to form in the younger medic-nin while she tried to restrain her sensei on the floor._

_This had been going on for so long that she was sure no one in this room couldn't remember the time when their collegue had been brought in. The night had settled a while ago, agitated by a rather violent storm; the lightning wasn't enough to make everyone jump with fright but painfully enough to illuminate the entire room – Sakura's body. And as she lay in her bed, as still as a statue, as cold as a stone, the other medic-nins worriedly looked over their boss, bags under their tired eyes underlining their exhaustion. The look they were sending the blonde Sannin were those of someone trying to be sympathetic and begging to stop, because there was nothing else they could do. Nothing else to help their dear collegue. Those looks weren't something you'd ever want to see because they hold a cruel, hurtful truth you would try your best to refuse, to deny, in order not to accept it._

_But in time, you'll eventually accept this truth. It may be harder the first days to come and sometimes months, but the pain would fade. Even if time can't heal all the wounds, Tsunade had no choice but to accept this hard truth concerning Haruno Sakura and bear it with all the might she could be able to summon._

_Her scream was at least as loud as the sound of thunder outside, sorrowful and vibrant with rage and pain._

_First Nawaki. Then Dan. Jiraiya. And now Sakura? Who was next?_

_She couldn't even register Shizune's next words as she kept screaming and pounding the ground with her powerful fists, creating a small crater in her rage and sorrow._

* * *

><p>A small hand rested upon Senju Tsunade's forehead, slightly trembling – she was silently crying herself, sharing her boss's pain with violent emotions she tried to shut down unwillingly because she had cried too much for her sake and health those months ago. Moving on had always been hard and difficult when it came to a loved one but did life give a choice to shinobis? Death could be or couldn't be avoided, it depended on the shinobi's skills and comprehension of the situation he was in. Haruno Sakura had not only waved off the very dangerous situation concerning Uchiha Sasuke – because 'he was her teammate and she trusted him with all her might', some words that had been scoffed at – and ignored her friends's serious warnings, but she had been this idiotic to believe he had changed back to the Uchiha Sasuke she hadn't stopped loving even though he had tried to kill her several times. Love, especially one-sided love, was sometimes the lethal weapon used to end up dead.<p>

Like Haruno Sakura.

''…you've done what you could. Please rest and stop thinking.''

_She could stop for now._

* * *

><p>The part of being a shinobi was to accept the death of a loved one, even if it caused great pain. Yamanaka Ino had understood that all too well after what had happened to her father and Shikamaru's and her sensei – she couldn't deny those long hours crying herself to sleep after the tragedy, it was just too heartbreaking to ignore the pain. But she had eventually kept living after a time to mourn and life had just started again, following the aftermath of the Fourth Shinobi War. The smiles may not have been cheerful at first but they had all been trying despite the heavy losses; their enemies had taken many lives and precious loved ones from everyone – brothers, sisters, fathers or mothers. Children, too. Hyuuga Neji was a friend they had cared about, a comrade they had protected, a cousin they had watched grow stronger over the years. In the end, he was a 'brother' they had seen dying on Naruto's shoulder after having done his task <em>one last time<em>.

And there was Sakura.

Everyone remembers his first friend. Ino does and when she pictures Sakura in her mind she cries loudly, loudly and painfully. She had continued to sob in her bed days after this latest tragedy and although Chouji and Shikamaru had been there by her side, she couldn't revert to her old-self for now – she just couldn't. When said first friend was someone you really loved like a sister despite all the feuds and rivalries because of one boy they had claimed to 'love' back when they were still those innocent children learning to become shinobis of the Leaf, you start to remember those times when this friendship was more important and precious than anything else – a boy or other bullshit trying to shatter it. Those smiles and frienship from the past are memories you would try to hang on because they had been so full of happiness and sincerity back then, innocent and full of life. Oh, how Ino would love to go back in time to strengthen her frienship with Sakura, defend her against the mocking comments of other children and make her smile. Just to feel this sincerity and friendship between them once again before it turned to rivalry, just to think this bond they had had together would never become severed because they had an interest in common, just to see if Sakura would have remained her friend if she hadn't confessed that she liked Uchiha Sasuke too, just to…

Ah. Just to _believe_.

Ino had stopped believing when Uchiha Sasuke broke both her's and Sakura's heart when he had left the village to a revenge quest and join the sides of a traitor, only to become one. She had stopped believing and hoping because it wouldn't have done her good; after Shikamaru and the others came back barely alive from the retrieval mission (which had been a crucial failure) Ino had understood. Uchiha Sasuke was a lost cause to still care about when he was the cause to have her teammates almost killed and she should forget him – _forgive_ him? No, Ino wasn't Sakura and wasn't someone who would still hope even after her love crush had tried to kill her countless of times because she had been in the way. Ino had admitted not knowing Sasuke underneath this facade of coldness and indifference, she had only known him for his looks and this cool attitude he was always showing in their younger years as genins but Sakura herself couldn't have seen the _inside_ of him.

While Sakura could have learned a few shades of Sasuke she still couldn't understand him – hence why he must have felt this urge to kill her because she had been in his way. It had been out of selfishness that she had tried to prevent Sasuke from leaving Konohagakure because she hadn't wanted to be left alone and be labeled as the useless person she was but what could she have accomplished by doing that? Standing in someone's way was sometimes a good move because it could prevent this someone from doing something he might regret later but on the other hand, it could be seen as a selfish attempt to keep this person around yourself, thus disregarding his goals and desires. Sakura had somewhat disreguarded Sasuke's goals because she hadn't wanted him to leave her and had continued pestering him with her feelings she called 'love' – and look _where_ it had led her in the end.

_Would I have disregarded Shikamaru's or Chouji's goals just because I wouldn't have wanted to be left alone?_

You can't be selfish all the time when it comes to someone you love, it wasn't healthy and would most of the time lead to some gruesome disaster – like death. Ino had listened to her parents and had become rational; Uchiha Sasuke couldn't be someone to still care about when his betrayal had almost led her precious teammates to a death they hadn't deserved and hoping wouldn't do any good in her goals in life. The Shinobi World was cruel and wouldn't be merciful to those who kept hoping and believing in someone who had done nothing but walk away, crush your beliefs with cold indifference and disappear on you for years. What Sakura had done was hoping for something that would have likely not happened even if she had begged it to, which had somewhat blinded into believing in some sort of sickening thought that maybe, maybe, Sasuke would come back for good.

Indeed, this foolish belief of Sakura had ironically killed her.

_No. Even I am not that selfish to stand in the way just because I —_

''Ino?''

Bright blue eyes slowly looked up to see Shikamaru approaching and her teammate paused in his walk upon seeing those dull eyes, so empty. This mischief the lazy genius was always used to see in Ino seemed to have faded those months ago along with Sakura and her ever happy character had been reduced to disturbing silence and hurtful tears. It hurt to watch her cry, it hurt to hear her muffled sobs in her sleep when he secretly came to talk to her – damn, it_ hurt_! Shikamaru swallowed with difficulty and sat next to his teammate, instantly puttin an arm around her shoulders to pull her towards him. She complied and hid her face against his torso, trembling in his hold.

Shinobis can cry, it wasn't forbidden. It merely shows they are still human after all and can be weak sometimes. Shikamaru knew that all too well after having lost Asuma-sensei to two members of the Akatsuki. Why keeping your emotions behind a wall of hardened indifference when you are all too able to feel them?

_''Cry, Ino, cry. Because you need it more than everyone else.''_

And _Kami_ she had cried so much. This strong woman hadn't cried like this since their sensei's death in her arms while she had attempted to heal him. Shikamaru hadn't felt this helpless since this dark event of their life and had vowed never to let another tragedy affect both Ino and Chouji – or Kurenai and her child. Never. _Again_.

''Did you cry today?'' he asked softly, stroking her long blond hair.

She nodded, not trusting her voice for the moment.

''Ah,'' he said more to himself.

Shikamaru knew Ino enough to understand that words don't have sometimes the same effect as actions; if words could comfort someone like her for a time before she could breakdown again, actions from both he and Chouji were all she needed to get better. She didn't have to do it all alone because they were here to support her. _Always_.

_Always, _Shikamaru repeated inwardly while hugging the young woman.

''Cry again if you feel the need to,'' he whispered into her ear.

_Because I'm here for you through this._

* * *

><p>''Did you think about our last talk, Tsunade?''<p>

''Again, you can rot in hell for all I care. I won't cry over your dead bodies.'' The Elders almost bristled at hearing those words. She only glared. ''My decision was final the last time we _talked_ about it and I was pretty sure your near-death experience in my office was good enough to give up on adding Hyuuga Hinata into the Bingo Book. What are your reasons anyway?''

Mitokado Homura frowned, his face cold. ''Tsunade, this is the last request we want you to fulfill as the Godaime Hokage of this village,'' he said grimly. ''While our reasons to do so are confidential, you should know that her involvement in the massacre in Snow Country caused wild ruckus as people wanted to hunt down the culprit and have him in trial for murdering their kin. The fact that she left the village – as an _underage_ kunoichi nonetheless – is an act of treachery and rebellion. She might have asked the permission to leave Konohagakure but interfering in a mission while having left the village is unnacceptable! She must be captured and —''

'' — _confidential_?!'' Tsunade was rising from her bed, bristling with irritation. ''_Captured_? Because she got rid of bastards killing for money and stole the scrolls? I'm not buying this bullshit, Mitokado! Last time I checked, no Konoha shinobi has been killed by Hinata!'' _Not yet_. ''She isn't like Uchiha Sasuke, she can —''

She suddenly stopped, eyes wide in understanding. Or maybe she thought so: while the Uchiha was still branded with those seals and couldn't use his Sharingan and Rinnegan to their full power, there was the slight but existent likelihood that he could be searching her – Hyuuga Hinata. While there were few people who would give her more credit she was far more intelligent and more cunning (although she would have never showed this side of her in public and trainings because it would be… odd and suspicious.) and could come up with solutions Tsunade and Sakura themselves would not have thought about. And this intelligence she had was used with care and determination for multiple changes she had wanted to bring to her clan – one of them being a way to neutralize the Caged Bird seal and other seals that would have effects on a dojutsu.

And Uchiha Sasuke was after her. He might have found her already. Tsunade closed her eyes in anguish, knowing she was defeated. She could have argued a lot more than that but there were those bothering doubts about the Elders and their suspicious desire to see a fellow Konoha kunoichi, who had helped to win the Fourth Shinobi War and had never betrayed their village, end up executed or worse; the Sannin wouldn't be blindsided once again, those two ancient sacks of bile had their hands dirty with blood (mainly Uchiha blood for having organized the Uchiha massacre along with Shimura Danzo.) and the fact that they had voted her resignation with the Council had served to make suspiciousness grow within her. They had to be spied on. But for now, she was defeated.

Early in tomorrow morning, it was already done: Hyuuga Hinata was added into the Konoha Bingo Book by the Godaime Hokage and labeled as a nukenin. The orders applied to her were the same: brought back into the village _dead_ or _alive_. Screams of outrage and disbelief had erupted in her office thirty minutes after this announcement, coming from what was left of the Konoha Eleven – Naruto hadn't bothered to come to yell his rage to her face but Kiba and Shino, being Hinata's former teammates and best friends, had expressed their disbelief upon learning Hinata's new status. They inwardly refused to think she would associate with the Uchiha, refused to think she would be manipulated by someone like Uchiha Sasuke – refused to think she would betray them. Denial was sometimes a solution to choose in cases like this involving one of your dearest friends. So they asked for a retrieval mission. It was rejected by Tsunade.

''I won't lose any other shinobi because of this screwed-up situation the Elders had thrown on my shoulders!'' she had snapped to the rest of the Konoha Eleven. ''Can't you feel that something isn't right? I've been stripped of my title as Hokage, my hands are tied and my suggestions and decisions both rejected – _I can't do anything anymore, I'm powerless_!''

Being powerless. It was the last thing Tsunade had ever wanted to feel in her life; losing Nawaki and Dan to death had been more than enough. Losing Jiraiya had torn her apart once again. Losing Haruno Sakura had been her limit and the Sannin herself knew that she would need more than saké to struggle with those urges to scream and cry her sorrow through the night.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Tsunade,<em>

_I've heard of your… status and the death of one of your esteemed students by the hands of the Uchiha. I'm so sorry to hear about this tragedy. Words can't always be enough to express such deep and sorrowful feelings but am I right to hope that you'll come up to open yourself to an old friend? It's been a long time since we talked. If you accept, please feel free to journey to Kirigakure and stay there as long as you want as my special guest._

_Then we will talk. Only if you're ready to talk, Tsunade._

_Truthfully yours,_

_Mei._

The scroll lay open on her table, forgotten and having been read times to times. Tsunade had counted the months since she had received the letter from Mei – four months had been enough to let her think of something, anything. If Mei wanted to talk, then…

Tsunade had to be ready. And brace herself. At least it will give her some sort of peace out of Konoha and away from those ancient sacks of bile who must be celebrating her resignation and thinking about another leader for the village. Talking about what could disturb her had never been her forte but if a friend asked for it and subtly underlined the idea of staying in Kirigakure for something she still couldn't grasp. Was she implying that she somewhow had suspicions about the Konoha Council and their manipulations after the fiasco concerning Uchiha Sasuke? It must have reached the other Hidden Villages as well, angered the other Kage (Tsunade suspected the Elders must have sent a message to the other shinobi villages without her consent and knowledge.).

Mei's letter seemed sincere and the red-haired Mizukage felt genuinely worried about the female Sannin, having heard about Haruno Sakura's demise at the hands of the once again traitor Uchiha Sasuke. Tsunade wasn't one to talk about her sorrow to someone but…

It couldn't hurt to try. After _Nawaki_, after _Dan_, after _Jiraiya_, after… _Sakura_…

It couldn't really hurt to try.

* * *

><p>''Hokage-sama, we demand to know —''<p>

''I'm no longer Hokage, Hanabi-san,'' the Sannin coldly interrupted.

The young Hyuuga looked stunned as her large white eyes cast an incredulous look at the busted blonde kunoichi.

''You… this isn't the time to pull jokes on us, Tsunade-sama!'' Hanabi almost snarled. ''Is it true that you put my sister into the Bingo Book? Why is that?''

Tsunade sighed tiredly and pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. The former Hokage was in a pitiful state; dark rings were visible under her brown eyes, showing that she musn't have been able to catch any sleep last night – they also were quite puffy and red. From crying, Hanabi realized with a slight start. It had been months but Haruno Sakura's death was still fresh and hurtful in her mind. Even Yamanaka Ino was still grieving.

When Tsunade addressed her, Hanabi was able to hear the truth through those words, ''I was heavily outnumbered during the vote. The Elders have been able to reach the other members's minds and sway their decisions concerning Hinata before me, therefore I was forced to do this as my last gesture as Godaime Hokage.''

''How can two Elders manipulate the Council to do something so drastic?'' Hanabi almost shrieked, frantic. ''You're the Hokage!''

_Were._ She _was_ Hokage until last night. The other Hyuuga accompanying young Hanabi looked aloof but there was more than meets the eye; if you looked closer and underneath the underneath, you would be able to see their worry in those white orbs of theirs. Now not every single Hyuuga may care a lot about Hinata but they cared enough to know that her younger sister would defy the Elders herself to cease this folly: she was still a Hyuuga and Hyuuga cared for each other, protected each other. And Hanabi now desired to pay her sister back for everything. Now she wanted to be the good sister to take care and protect her. But without Tsunade being at the head of this village this will be more than complexe; why would those Elders take their Hokage out of command and force her into putting the former heiress in the Bingo Book, thus making her an S-rank criminal and a nukenin?

''Beats me!'' Tsunade snorted angrily, amber eyes flashing. ''But that's exactly why I summoned you. I need your eyes – _all_ Hyuuga eyes for a task.''

They all perked up, including Shizune who looked at her sensei with a quizzical gaze the legendary kunoichi pointedly ignored. Hanabi leaned forward, lavender eyes hardened and curious. This expression on Tsunade's face… whatever she was thinking couldn't be good. It was eerie and frightening; the gleam in her amber eyes put Hanabi slightly on edge and she couldn't help but notice this strange aura around the former Hokage. This may have something to do with the Will of Fire and the desire to protect Hinata from further danger and death but somehow it was dark. Dark and couldn't promise something good.

_Is it for the good of the village or… for Aneki?_

Whatever it was, if it could help her beloved sister and pull her out of this hellish situation… ''If it involves Hinata, we'll do it,'' Hanabi assured, eyes shining with determination. ''We'll do it for Hinata. And my father.''

Tsunade nodded. ''Good. Because I have a feeling Hyuuga Hiashi is involved in this.''

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mei, <em>

_I'm not sure what will come out of my mouth if I accept your invitation, I'm not used to talk of my sorrows to someone else beside Shizune. Trying wouldn't harm, though I would likely tend to shield myself through my desire to drown my sadness into saké (You'd do well to acquire enough bottles for us because I think, Mei… it will take time.). I'm quite honoured by your letter and words, I needed to hear them from someone else._

_Sakura's death drove me to a certain point where I could no longer run the village as Hokage. I thought my mind had abandoned my body after having realized I couldn't revive her and…_

_I'm not sure anymore. I'm still grieving and can't find the strenght to move on. The same goes for everyone who cared for her, Naruto being the first one as her teammate. It will be my pleasure to journey to Kirigakure and stay there, maybe getting out of Konoha will help me clear my mind and move on. For good._

_I will see you in a few._

_Yours truthfully,_

_Tsunade._

* * *

><p>''Did you hear? Hokage-sama has resigned and someone else —''<p>

''What? B-but who else than Tsunade-sama is going to take her place and protect us instead and who —''

''The Uzumaki boy? Do you think he will be the one to take over and —''

''I heard that Tsunade-sama will leave the village soon —''

''Where will she go? We need her… _we all need her here_…''

Another kind of whispers nobody would like to hear or overhear – the whispers of many people who admire you and count on you to protect them from any enemy, any danger here to harm them and shatter their peace. These were whispers of distress, fear and dread, fueled by this sudden dark feeling of abandonment. Of course, the thought of Tsunade abandoning them because of her best student's death had come first into the minds of the villagers: the death of Haruno Sakura had been the event that triggered this period of unease and morbid routine, it had been as if Konohagakure had lost half of its joy and peaceful aura, drained then mercilessly ripped from the village by the traitor. _Killed_. Then there were the hallucinations coming from those who can't rationalize at all and start panicking.

_Is she abandoning us? Why is she leaving? Has she recoiled from her oath?_

When you're unable to rationalize yourself you lose every bit of confidence and trust in yourself and, as unwillingly you would like to affirm, in the person you admire the most as a protector of a whole village. Losing faith into this person is similar to losing faith into living without fear, it also means that you stopped believing and everything you've hung onto falls apart. Tsunade had believed even though almost everything she loved had been roughly ripped from her, from Nawaki to Sakura, but did that mean she had stopped believing into a better future? No, because Uzumaki Naruto had happened with Jiraiya and with them, a wind of hope and confidence.

_Despair_. The whispers of despair were one of the worst kind of words you wouldn't like to poison your mind, because they discourage you and destroy any belief you could have about anyone – in this case, the belief of Konoha villagers in their former leader and protector Senju Tsunade. In despair, you wouldn't know how to react to any situation and would lose the trail of your thoughts, distressed and fearful.

And when all the villagers thought that no other news would upset them, something caught their attention – or rather _someone_ with blonde hair and amber eyes.

Tsunade. _Their_ Tsunade.

She was walking towards the gates calmly, with her head high and chin proud. Her steps never faltered, never halted, just kept walking forward with a group of ANBU flanking her sides. It was the walk of someone who, despite of the horrible tragedies she had endured, was determined to set things right within her own mind before everyone else. Tsunade, in this instant, had never been more beautiful. The look on her face was of someone who, despite all the horrors she must have to face in nightmares and further encounters, will find the strenght to get up after stumbling and falling. _Always_. It was if she saw no one on her left or right, no one except the immense gates of Konohagakure. Because she was leaving. She was leaving with a serene look gracing her features, with this powerful aura only a Sannin could produce, and it was suddenly obvious that she won't look back.

It looked like a farewell. A farewell to the village she had protected with all her might.

But as the gates opened, words were suddenly heard.

''Remember my words, inhabitants of Konohagakure!''

_Tsunade._Every single villager, despite their shock, perked up and listened. Her voice was too powerful to ignore…

''Your faith never has to fade in one another, it may falter and sometimes weaken, but will eventually grow back! This village endured, bore so many horrors and tragedies that it had been the theater of death and sorrow too many times but have we given up? Have you _all_ given up? I can still you all there, living and breathing, relinquishing in this new era of peace despite the recent events that shook us up to the core months ago. Despite that, you mustn't stop believing!''

Her voice, so strong and so enchanting…

''The world and your life don't have to come to an end because I'm leaving, you don't have to stop believing because I won't be your protector anymore or all I've been doing these past years for this village would have been for nothing! I believe in you, I trust you all with all my heart and it's because I trust you all that I'm leaving Konohagakure no Sato in your hands! There is no better leader than yourself for now: I can't be your Hokage for now and until I found the strenght to come back, you will have to help one another until I come back! And until I come back…''

Her right arm slowly rose in the air, hand clenched in one tight fist.

''… YOUR WILL OF FIRE BETTER NOT HAVE EXTINGUISHED! UNDERSTOOD?''

Those last words, roared with an unwavering, powerful voice, had the desired effect on every inhabitant of Konohagakure no Sato: less than a second later, the village erupted in exuberant, loud and cheerful roars of agreement. There was a chorus of cries screaming the former Hokage's name, praising her strenght and moral, encouraging her in her journey, telling her to come back healthy and stronger than ever. The smiles were back, the eyes shone in determination again – their Will of Fire may have been shaken up lately but was still a flaming fire.

If one of them had rushed up to her, he would have seen the watery smile and the tears on Tsunade's face. The smile of someone who was proud of her village and its blazing Will of Fire, the tears of someone who promised to come back better than ever.

She had been defeated. But she will come out victorious next time.

* * *

><p>In the midst of the sudden burst of wild roars heard in the village, Uzumaki Naruto did something he hadn't done in those seven months.<p>

He smiled.

_Through sorrow and darkness,_

_there is always someone, a light, to pull you out of the depths of the well you've been thrown into._

''Understood!''

* * *

><p>''So, what will you do?'' Shikamaru asked half-heartedly. ''Tsunade left the village three days ago, in four days there will be a new Hokage appointed – and I'm sure as hell it won't be you, considering the fact you're still not quite qualified to become the most important person of the village – but you're packing. Why?''<p>

''Isn't it obvious?'' Naruto paused in his gestures to look at the slouching form of his friend on his couch with a toothy grin. ''I will be on a journey!''

''I still don't understand,'' the lazy genius sighed, watching as the blonde Jinchuuriki ran everywhere in his apartment to get something. ''Oh, whatever… but where will you start?''

''Huh?'' Naruto had the nerve to sound innocent. ''What are you talking about?''

''This journey you're talking about… is it because you want to confront Sasuke? Because you want to find Hinata before someone else does? Or because you want to bring them back together?''

There was no need to evade the question, Naruto must have realized it with Shikamaru. You don't have to be a genius to guess Naruto's motives when it is plainly obvious: if his foxy smile doesn't give him away, then his sudden enthusiasm and excited mood will. The future Hokage stared at Shikamaru, who stared back, silent and looking strangely solemn for someone as boisterous and loud as him.

Bring them back together? Sasuke and Hinata? This had been his first main idea from the beginning when Hinata had been the first to disappear from Konohagakure, leaving everything else behind her. At first Naruto wanted to bring her back because he wanted to apologize and, if he were to be granted the chance, to make it up to her and give her an answer. Being aware of her feelings for him had made him quite overwhelmed: to know that someone as gentle and kind-hearted as Hyuuga Hinata had loved him – had admired him – for all those years made him special in her eyes because it was somewhat different from Sakura's admiration for him. It had hurt him in more than one way and his ignorance had had disastrous consequences ever since Sasuke had been 'forgiven' for his crimes; this ignorance of his had led to this. When her father had died Naruto had not dared to come to her, as if he had feared he would have intruded into some clan intimacy. He had been neglecting with her and now he was paying the ultimate price of this ignorance: Sakura was dead, killed by the one he had considered his best friend for so long, and Hinata was now a nukenin and into the Bingo Book as a criminal – something that didn't fit with her.

Tsunade's last words gave him what he had needed: a renewed determination not to give up and to get up again after falling, a restored confidence in order to overcome every obstacle in your way to success – a renaissance.

_Yes_. A _renaissance_.

The grin that spread on Naruto's face wasn't fake. It was bright even though the tears in his sapphire eyes were a proof of his sadness.

''You already know my nindo, Shikamaru,'' he said. ''If there had been hope for this war, why wouldn't there be hope for Sasuke and Hinata?''

''They won't come back, Naruto.'' Shikamaru's voice was clipped with a tinge of regret. ''While I may not know Hinata that much like Shino and Kiba or her sister, there is no other way to tell that you won't come back than leaving the village without anyone noticing and severing your ties. How would you convince them if you ever encounter them?''

There was only a smile to answer his question and the hyperactive blonde went back to his activities, running around the apartment. The young jounin sighed and closed his eyes, reclining back in his previous slouching position on the couch.

While Shikamaru may be wondering about Naruto's motivations to make him believe in some absurd thought about Sasuke, the situation concerning Hyuuga Hinata was kind of different and yet worried him. What could have driven her to do something so macabre in Snow Country he wouldn't know, but there were things he had observed the very few times he had seen Hinata out of the Hyuuga Compound; her quietness had never been something bothering before but she had grown even more quiet than usual weeks after the war – he had first suspected it had been her father's demise that had put her on edge and more withdrawn but… it may have been something else. Or _someone_ else, he thought bitterly as he glanced at the blonde now eating instant ramen (How he had managed to warm this _abomination_ up he called food so fast he didn't even want to know.). Hinata's feelings for this buffoon were quite obvious for everyone else among the Konoha Eleven and Shikamaru couldn't count the times he had ignored – neglected – the sweet Hyuuga after the war. One was enough if you were still overwhelmed by the perspective of winning a near-hopeless battle, twice was still okay since there was an aftermath, thrice was becoming annoying and upsetting… and after that he had stopped counting and the consequences of this hurtful ignorance had started to take effect on Hinata. That would explain a part of her disappearance.

But there was something else Shikamaru didn't understand; what could have driven Hyuuga Hinata to do… _that_ in Snow Country?

Naruto suddenly looked up and stilled, the strange and solemn expression back on his face. Which started to freak Shikamaru out. ''What? You had an epiphany or something?'' the lazy genius drawled.

''… yeah. Sort of,'' Naruto answered, looking at the sunset.

There was an uncomfortable silence during which Shikamaru waited for his friend's reply, finding this quietness a little unsettling. The blonde finished his meal, put his now empty bowl in the sink and grabbed his vest. Then he turned to him, the same expression on his face.

''Are you coming?'' His question didn't look like one, though it was asked nicely and with this… disconcerting solemnity no one was used to.

''Where?''

''To Sakura's grave.''

* * *

><p><em>Your last farewell to your loved one should be intimate but if you're willing to share it with someone else,<em>

_try not to contain your tears and sorrow, for it wouldn't relieve you for good._

It had been a long while since they both had gone to Konoha cemetery to pay their tribute to a lost loved one. For Shikamaru, his father had been the last one he visited after the war (No body had been recovered but he had assumed it was a quick death and his father didn't suffer that much.) and that was it. The ceremony had been short but serene, his mother had cried a lot but had managed to move on after having received a lot of help from Ino's and Chouji's mother – Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji had spent a lot of time together to tend their wounds and mourn the losses in private, because it was an intimate moment of Team Asuma that couldn't be shared with someone else out of the team. Shikamaru wouldn't have admitted to someone that he had also cried after this but it had somehow relieved him. But of course, nobody had expected Haruno Sakura's death by a Chidori – badly hurt maybe, but not dead. This had quite achieved them.

Sakura's ceremony had been… awfully hurtful. While he hadn't been close to her, Shikamaru held some respect to her; having been Tsunade's student and mastered her technique was wonderful and had given her more maturity and strenght – in a certain way. While he hadn't cried during the ceremony he had held an uncontrollable crying Ino after she had broken down in the middle of her farewell tribute to Sakura. He remembered the feelings he had felt upon holding his female teammate in his arms: anger and shame because _Sakura_, along with _Naruto_, had pleaded and bent her neck to sway the other Kage into sparing _Sasuke_ from being executed for his crimes. Resentment and some kind of hatred because _Sakura_ had been this idiotic to believe that her crush wouldn't betray them twice and the war would have somehow changed his mind and _Naruto_ had been this stupid to think that a traitor would come back willingly to a once treacherous village that had his whole family murdered if he knocked some — (**This term has been removed for your sanity**.) sense in his head. Both of them had been so easily fooled… and the consequences were still having effect on his female teammate.

Shikamaru had been straightforward and told Naruto face to face – it was because of them. It was their own fault and there was no need to deny this. The jounin had been bitter and extremely resentful because of this for quite a long time because making amends but the thought still left a very sour taste in his mouth.

His sharp, black eyes watched in keen interest and mild compassion as Naruto knelt before Sakura's grave. There were two bouquets of flowers laying on the ground – Ino must have stopped by to say something to her late friend/rival – and they were pink. Sakura flowers.

Pink. _Like her hair_.

For a while Naruto just knelt there, silent and staring at the inscriptions sculpted in the hard stone. Then, his voice rose.

''I'm leaving, Sakura.''

Shikamaru didn't budge.

''We tried to bring Sasuke back in Konoha together, it didn't work. We failed. And it hurt. Back then I think we didn't or couldn't understand why he betrayed us in the first place. It meant we didn't understand and know him at all and yet we were his teammates, we were supposed to know him enough to understand his feelings and learn to…''

He sighed deeply, lowering his blue eyes in heartbreaking sadness.

''…there are no words to tell you how sorry I really am, Sakura. As a friend and teammate I was supposed to watch over you all the time, but even that I wasn't able to do it properly and now you're gone. Gone for _good_. I think I hadn't realized that until Kakashi-sensei confirmed. I think I hadn't wanted to believe that it was Sasuke who did this to you until I realized there were only two Chidori users who could have done that and since it couldn't have been Kakashi-sensei…we've been fools, Sakura. We've been fools to believe that Sasuke would have agreed to come back willingly with us, we've been so blind. So ironic, isn't it? Because we had both wanted to believe we would reform the old Team 7 before all this crap, we hadn't deigned to look underneath the underneath and see Sasuke's deceit. And for that we've been punished. For that, you died.''

Shikamaru could have left. He should have left to give him deserved intimacy because everything he was saying to his late pink-haired friend and teammate was painfully true and so… private. Seeing the tears rolling down his tanned cheeks, Shikamaru felt himself rooted there, a silent comfortable presence that would comfort his friend later after this.

''Granny Tsunade also left, you know. But she had said those words… it gave the strenght to get up and try again. Yes, again. You may not be there anymore in body and flesh but your spirit will remain with us forever along with your own Will of Fire. I'll carry it through the years and I swear, I _swear_ Sakura…''

He stood up, expression solemn and eyes blazing with this unyielding determination everyone was used to see in him. In this instant, Shikamaru could finally see the old Uzumaki Naruto coming back from this chasm he had been thrown into months ago. His lips quirked…

''… I'll understand next time.''

… and he smiled.


End file.
